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Alexis Mac Allister scored Liverpool's winning goal against Real Madrid for a second year in a row — then said that the victory "doesn't mean anything."
The Argentina international has faced criticism for his form in recent months, but he has shown his quality over the last couple of games to help the Reds return to winning ways.
Mac Allister headed home from Dominik Szoboszlai's free-kick after 61 minutes as Liverpool finally found a way past an inspired Thibaut Courtois in Madrid's goal.
After the game, Mac Allister was keen to keep the win in perspective after pointing out that Liverpool beat Madrid on the way to topping the league phase last season, only to exit the competition at the last-16 stage.
"I think it was a good game against a really good team," Mac Allister said. "A win, but we know it doesn't mean anything - the experience last season, we finished first and then after that we were out quite early."
On Courtois' brilliant showing, Mac Allister added: "He is a fantastic keeper - we all know. He had a few saves, so again I think he is a really good keeper, but today I think we were better and deserved to win."
Going into the weekend's game against Villa, Liverpool had not kept a clean sheet since mid-September, but the Reds have now managed two on the bounce in all competitions.
The crisis talk that followed last week's 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace has died down, and Slot was full of praise for his defense, particularly Conor Bradley, who kept Vinicius Junior quiet.
"If you want to win this game you have to make sure that these two (Mbappe and Vinicius) are not on the scoresheet," Slot said. "The whole team defended really well, in the high press and the low block.
"Conor [Bradley] was outstanding. To be up against Vinicius so many times one v one is not for everyone. He did outstanding today.
"I said to the players that the only thing I did not want was a mid block, because those two up front [Vinicius and Mbappe] have deep runs, unbelievable timing and incredible pace, so we either press them really high or sit in a low block.
"So never give them space, and in the few moments you do, take it away because 24 goal contributions from 26 goals tells you everything you need to know about these two."
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