What Arne Slot told players about Kylian Mbappe as 'outstanding' Liverpool ace praised

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was delighted with his side's defensive performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, with the Reds keeping a clean sheet en route to a 1-0 victory.

Conor Bradley, in particular, was outstanding, with Liverpool moving level with the Spanish giant in the European league phase. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were strong performers alongside him.

"Very pleased," Slot told Amazon Prime at the final whistle. "It's been [some] tricky weeks for us, many away games, hardly any rest in between every single game.

"Again we only had two games in between this game but the same was there for Real Madrid. It helps if you can play in front of these fans and you can play in front of Real Madrid.

"I think that brings the best out of my players and out of our fans. It was a great performance against a team that only lost once all season. It could have been a bit more maybe."

Dominik Szoboszlai saw a big chance saved in the first half, and Van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike went close in the second period when Thibaut Courtois looked unstoppable.

 Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with teammates during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield on November 4, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)

Alexis Mac Allister celebrates with his Liverpool team-mates after his proved to be the only goal of the game against Real Madrid

In the end, Alexis Mac Allister found the breakthrough but it was the fact that Real Madrid was unable to score itself that saw the three points ushered over the line.

"I said before the game that they have scored 26 goals in La Liga, and Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. together have 24 goal contributions," Slot continued.

"So, if you want to win this game you have to make sure that these two are not on the scoresheet. The whole team defended really well, in the high press and the low block.

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"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."

Liverpool has now kept back-to-back clean sheets this week, doing so against Aston Villa at the weekend. Doing so against Manchester City on Sunday and the Reds will have a minimum of seven points from nine in a very tricky week.

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