How Liverpool beat Real Madrid: A Champions League twist on a classic tactic – The Athletic
Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League was a lesson in efficiency.
They recorded just 40 per cent possession — their lowest this season — but had 13 shots and forced Thibaut Courtois to make eight saves. They threatened from set pieces, too, with Alexis Mac Allister’s match-winner coming from a lateral free kick.
That efficiency stemmed from Liverpool finding a solution to teams cutting out their favoured build-up tactic.
In Arne Slot’s first season in charge, Liverpool often focused on drawing teams to their right. Their first phase of build-up would involve both centre-backs and Trent Alexander-Arnold staying back, while the left-back would push up the pitch. The midfielders would shift towards the right, too, emptying out the centre and left of the pitch.
Alexander-Arnold could then switch the play to the other side or find a runner in behind on the right, as he does in the images below against Liverpool’s next opponents, Manchester City, back in February. Mohamed Salah holds his width, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s run confusing the press.
The move ends with Salah setting up Szoboszlai for their second goal in a 2-0 win, where they recorded 33 per cent possession. It was the lowest possession share in a league game under Slot, but they kept City at arm’s length throughout — like they did against Madrid on Tuesday.
The strategy had a third benefit, as midfielders pushing on created space for Ryan Gravenberch to carry the ball forward.
Teams have adapted to this in 2025-26 by marking Liverpool’s midfielders tightly, while gambling that their right-back — most frequently Conor Bradley — would not be able to execute passes like Alexander-Arnold.
Slot’s solution was to shift the build-up shape to include the left-back instead, positioning the right-back high and wide while Salah operated in-field with the same secondary runner, as seen below against Brentford.
But that has not solved Liverpool’s problems, and it has exacerbated Salah’s ineffectiveness in these initial months of the season.
In the 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday, Slot returned to their preferred tactic, but tweaked it to suit Bradley’s strengths: off-the-ball movement and dribbling. This example below, from the 66th minute, sees him combine with a retreating Szoboszlai and Salah to force Villa backwards.
Against Real Madrid, Liverpool simplified it further. In the following example, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili goes long towards Salah after Mac Allister and Gravenberch drag Madrid’s midfielders forward.
Bradley runs on Vinicius Junior’s blindside to collect Salah’s pass, with Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz in a position to benefit.
The right-back carried the ball into the final third before being fouled by Vinicius Jr, who was booked.
Just under 14 per cent (13.6) of Liverpool’s passes against Madrid went long, their second-highest share in a match this season behind the 1-0 win over Arsenal (13.8). Mamardashvili’s player dashboard shows he successfully targeted the right flank.
Liverpool could mix things up, too.
In the example below, Szoboszlai drops back to receive from Ibrahima Konate, instantly triggering pressure from Vinicius Jr. Wirtz, nominally on the left but given the freedom to drift, and Gravenberch occupy the attentions of Aurelien Tchouameni and Arda Guler respectively.
That leaves Mac Allister open, and he passes to the spare man, Bradley, with Wirtz now in the half-spaces where he thrives.
But instead of coming short as he often does, Wirtz pushes ahead, forcing Dean Huijsen backwards, while Salah occupies Alvaro Carreras. That allows Bradley to ping a pass into Ekitike.
Bradley attempted six long balls, a personal high in a Premier League or Champions League game under Slot. It was also the first time he attempted two switches of play, with one of those finding Ekitike with room to dribble.
That may not be a big number compared to what Liverpool had with Alexander-Arnold, but creating situations like the one above will simplify Bradley’s passing responsibilities while accentuating his strengths, the biggest of which is his off-the-ball movement. Liverpool leveraged it from Mamardashvili’s long passes, but could do so by playing through the press, too.
Below, Konate passes to the retreating Mac Allister while Gravenberch drops back, too, dragging Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga forward. At the same time, Bradley capitalises once again on Vinicius Jr watching play develop by running on his blindside to pick up a pass from Mac Allister that eliminates five Madrid players.
Szoboszlai’s positioning pulls Huijsen out of the defensive line, while Wirtz drifting over to the right drags right-back Federico Valverde across the pitch. It leaves Salah isolated against Carreras and Ekitike in space, with only Eder Militao to contend with.
The free kick from which Liverpool scored was won using a similar tactic. As Gravenberch carries the ball forward, Szoboszlai and Wirtz join Salah on the right again.
As the Dutch international dribbles forward, Madrid have a problem. Wirtz’s positioning out wide, with Salah inside, allows Liverpool to double up on Carreras, forcing Huijsen to shift closer to the Egypt international. Tchouameni should cover that space, but is wary of Szoboszlai running in behind, creating a gap in the Madrid back line that Ekitike can attack.
Bellingham lunges in before Gravenberch can pass, fouling him in the process.
After Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat by Brentford on October 25, Slot said they had not yet “found an answer” to teams playing against them with a specific strategy. While it mostly referred to his side being targeted more frequently with long balls, he would have been aware of how teams were stifling their build-up, too.
Liverpool appeared to find one response to their in-possession struggles by returning to familiar tactics against Madrid, adapting it to get the best out of new personnel. But a stiffer test awaits against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
