At The Albert pub, which marks one of the entrances to Anfield, they continued to celebrate after midnight locally with beers for everyone and live music following Liverpool’s restorative victory over Madrid. “It could have been a few more goals,” declared their coach, Arne Slot, smiling, after a day that once again spread a thick blanket of suspicion on the White Coast following yet another poor performance against a rival in their league. Classic oxygen only lasted 10 days.
That afternoon, Xabi Alonso celebrated, even more than the three points, that the team, as he explained, felt competitive again on a great day after so many painful defeats against their peers. However, the passage through the north of England left the progress of that triumph in quarantine. Or, perhaps, it raised the question of whether that victory represented real progress against a Barcelona weakened by defeats and less pronounced than last season.
The results of Xabi’s team show a harsh reality that is growing in a very threatening way. He improved in the duels between the wars, against smaller opponents (13 victories), but he continues to have a corrosive problem when it comes to playing important matches, where he accumulates two corrections that harm the growth of the new project, against Atlético (5 to 2) and Liverpool (1 to 0). Since the Basque signed, he has had three defeats and all three were in these scenarios: PSG (4-0), derby and this Tuesday. The problem is not new with regard to the outcome with Carlo Ancelotti, although the lack of solutions after the change of bench raised the alarm in a squad with such marked statutes, as was the case with Vinicius.
Unlike the Metropolitano, when Tolosarra didn’t put out hot towels, at Anfield he was much less critical. In his opinion, the biggest mistake was suffering fouls and not threatening more in the final third. The data, however, points to a greater failure: in addition to Thibaut Courtois’ eight saves (his highest number this year including games with his national team), Madrid ended the match with the same shots on goal (two) as in the games between PSG of the United States and Atlético a month and a half ago.
“Last year we were much worse, we cannot allow this to ruin the good moment”, defended Jude Bellingham after a night that left Kylian Mbappé without a shot between the three posts, something that had only happened this year against Mallorca. The Frenchman, a finisher, had no food on his plate at Anfield and didn’t cook either. “Real Madrid lacked intensity, ideas, they didn’t move the ball quickly, they didn’t create opportunities”, criticized Wayne Rooney.
The Whites’ lack of consistency at Liverpool (0.45 expected goals in their favor, their worst result if one takes into account last year’s four defeats against Barcelona, the draw with Arsenal, the duel with PSG, this year’s derby and the visit to Anfield a year ago) has once again put the focus on the midfield’s great difficulty in imposing its game plan. The meeting exposed Arda Güler’s main problems,
Guler, on the right
Bellingham’s return delayed the Turk when it came to catching the ball, a more exposed position, especially against opponents with so much pace. At the beginning of the second half and faced with siege, Alonso sent it to the right, occupied by Camavinga, and placed the Frenchman in the middle in an attempt to match the muscle, but without success. The Basque, as in the classic, insisted on four midfielders to the detriment of a striker, again with Camavinga on the right wing; However, the lack of responses in the spinal cord was constant.
Slot’s team, which ended a run of six defeats in its last seven games on Saturday, only kept a clean sheet in four of its 17 games. Against Madrid, he breathed a sigh of relief. “It was difficult for us to maintain our position in the opponent’s field. And that’s where we have to improve against good teams, especially away from home”, said Courtois, the great support in the storm. Fede Valverde, in turn, spoke, as in the Metropolitano, of “attitude and desire”, an argument that Xabi described after the derby as “simplistic”.
Liverpool’s duel opened a series of six consecutive away games in Madrid (Rayo, Elche, Olympiacos, Girona and Athletic remain), a sequence that will culminate on December 10th, after a clash with Celta, in the meeting at the Bernabéu with City. Another competitive emergency match for Xabi Alonso’s team.