Kolkata: It was the moment that could have repaired Kylian Mbappe’s season. Andy Robertson had marred a good night just so with an ill-timed tackle on Lucas Vazquez and from nowhere Real Madrid had an opportunity to draw level with a penalty. Mbappe’s shot came at a good height for Caoimhin Kelleher who had guessed right. Anfield breathed, Mbappe buried his head in his hands.
Liverpool’s 2-0 win through goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo took Arne Slot to where his predecessor Juergen Klopp couldn’t go. Real Madrid had been Liverpool’s nemesis in two Champions League finals and responsible for their ouster in four of the past seven seasons. That added spice to this clash between teams that together had been best in Europe 21 times.
Spice that evaporated at kick-off as Liverpool bossed the defending champions. Robertson shielding Arda Guler, the standout performance by young right-back Conor Bradley, the goals, the readiness to get physical (Virgil van Dijk upending Mbappe with a shoulder charge), Liverpool showed why Jude Bellingham said they were the best-performing team in Europe now. One with a 100% record in Champions League this season. But for Thibaut Courtois, it could have been a rout.
Which made the missed penalty on the hour such a pivotal moment in the tie. 1-1 and even with eight key players out injured, Real Madrid had enough star power to take something from the tie. Liverpool too erred from the spot, Mo Salah driving his shot wide in the 70th minute but so dominant were they that in six minutes Gakpo made it 2-0.
This was only the second penalty Mbappe has missed in the Champions League and the first since October 2021. Last term, he had taken three penalties in Champions League and converted all of them.
Including a free transfer to Real Madrid, that had a sign-on fee of £120m, a lot has happened since. Mbappe has taken on his former club Paris St Germain claiming €55m in wages and been left out of France’s last two matches because coach Didier Deschamps thinks he is going through a “difficult moment.”
On Wednesday, Mbappe was facing a goalkeeper who had saved two of his last three penalties and been in such form that Liverpool’s No.1 Alisson was not missed. Mbappe has one goal and one assist after five Champions League matches. That’s some fall from six goals in the knockout rounds when he was 17. Since joining Real, he is averaging a goal contribution every 136.5 minutes.
With Vinicius Jr among those injured, Mbappe got to start on the left like he loves doing for club and country. Where he would be up against Bradley, a 21-year-old making his first Champions League start. It should have been the best of times.
Brahim Diaz found him in the first minute but Mbappe could not sort out his feet. Soon after, Salah picked his pocket and Liverpool nearly scored. Mbappe was off-side when Guler tried to swing play from right to left. It reminded of the eight times he was off-side in the Clasico.
Thirty-one minutes in came the moment when Bradley showed the world what he is made of. Real broke from a Liverpool corner-kick, Diaz finding Mbappe who sped towards goal. Bradley ran and took the ball away with a challenge perfectly timed. Barring in the 58th minute when Mbappe beat Bradley but couldn’t find Bellingham, the Liverpool right-back had the measure of a player who has starred in two of the last three World Cup finals. A player whose night was summed up by a 50th minute pass to no one.
No one had more defensive actions than Bradley’s 18. The right-back Bradley also ghosted inside to test Courtois with a header and provided the assist for the first goal.
Growing up with a poster of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real, being given a tour of the training ground as child by Zinedine Zidane this was a dream move for Mbappe. Only, there was the small matter of where he would play, one that has not been resolved.
Vinicius Jr is to Real what Martin Odegaard is to Arsenal, the attack takes on a different edge when they are around. And Vinicius plays where Mbappe does. Deployed centrally, Mbappe has also come in the way of Bellingham’s goals. Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Bellingham had 64 goals and 33 assists last term. The goals have dried up even though one of the world’s best scorers have been added.
“Things are not running for him. We’ve got to be patient. He is an extraordinary player — a fantastic player,” said Real manager Carlo Ancelotti of Mbappe.
Settling down at Real can take some doing, Vincius Jr and Luka Modric are proof. That said, Mbappe going the way of Gareth Bale or Eden Hazard is not a thought that can be dismissed out of hand anymore.
