Liverpool 1 Real Madrid 0: Slot’s Structure Suffocates Champions League Royalty

A controlled European night that proved Liverpool can win through patience as much as power.

Control Through Suffering at Anfield

There are Champions League nights when Liverpool drown teams in noise and fury. This was not one of them. Real Madrid had the ball, Liverpool had the plan. Arne Slot’s side beat the Spanish champions 1-0, yet the story is written in control rather than chaos.

Real Madrid finished with 61% possession and completed 461 of 531 passes, compared with Liverpool’s 256 from 332. That kind of statistical tilt would usually suggest dominance. Here it meant nothing. Liverpool decided when to press, when to drop, and where Madrid were allowed to play.

Liverpool created 17 shots to Madrid’s 8, producing 2.51 expected goals against 0.45. Nine efforts were on target compared with only two from Madrid. Slot’s team missed three clear openings but still found a way to win. This was not luck. It was control built on repetition, positioning and discipline.

Left-Side Overload and Wirtz’s Endless Running

The key to Liverpool’s rhythm came down their left. Andy Robertson was constantly among the team’s highest players, overlapping Florian Wirtz, who drifted into pockets across the attacking line. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai worked inside those channels, allowing Wirtz to push forward while Ryan Gravenberch anchored the shape.