Conor Bradley may be facing a spell on the sidelines with an injury suffered against Real Madrid, but the right-back certainly left his mark on Kylian Mbappe.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold already sidelined, Bradley went into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash knowing he would come up against one of the world’s most high-profile players.
But Mbappe’s struggles for Real continued with a muted display at Anfield, with the France captain stifled throughout by his enthusiastic marker.
The headline moment was with a stunning slide tackle to thwart Mbappe on the break, but on a night that also saw him register an assist for Alexis Mac Allister‘s opener, Bradley was everywhere defensively.
Per FotMob, the 21-year-old won more duels than any other player (eight), coming away with the ball in seven of his 11 ground duels and his only aerial duel.
Bradley also made the most recoveries (nine), which includes his challenge to deny Mbappe on the counter, while he was successful with two of his four attempted tackles.
Mbappe, meanwhile, had the second-most touches in the opposition box of any player on the night, with his nine only bettered by Curtis Jones (11), but he was limited to only one shot on target – that being his penalty.
Caoimhin Kelleher kept the No. 9 out from the spot, with Mbappe receiving a one-out-of-10 rating by one Spanish journalist for his display.
The Liverpool goalkeeper earned a FotMob rating of 8.8, being named their Man of the Match, with Bradley second-best with 8.6.
A night for full-backs
Interestingly, given the scrutiny over his performances having given away two penalties in as many games, Robertson was one of Liverpool’s most influential players in midweek.
The left-back made more touches than any other player (125), as well as completing the most passes (92/100) at a success rate of 92 percent.
No player created more chances than Robertson (three) while Virgil van Dijk (10) was the only player to attempt more passes into third than the Scot (nine).
Robertson made the joint-highest defensive actions for Liverpool, tied with Ryan Gravenberch on six, as well as winning the ball with both of his attempted tackles.
Just like Bradley on the opposite flank, he also came away with an assist, with his lofted cross headed home by Cody Gakpo to make it 2-0.
While Liverpool’s setup has undoubtedly changed under Arne Slot, what has stayed the same is how important the role of the full-back is to their system – as showed again, to great effect, against Real Madrid.
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