A week ago, Liverpool were slumping their way towards the end of a terrible October, the Reds having lost six of seven matches including four straight in the Premier League. Nothing seemed to be coming off, they’d dropped from top of the league to mid-table, and seemed teetering on the edge of crisis.
Today, well, it’s not that. Because it’s November. Which isn’t October. But more importantly, Liverpool have now won back-to-back, beating Aston Villa in the league and Real Madrid in Europe. More importantly, they’ve played two of their best games of the season, leading to a resurgence of hope and a belief that just maybe, the defending champions have found their feet.
“Everyone worked their socks off today, even the lads coming off the bench really played their part as well, just a massive all-round performance today,” left back Andy Robertson reflected after Tuesday’s more dominant than the scoreline might suggest 1-0 victory over Madrid in front of a fired up Anfield.
“It’s really pleasing, and we’re glad we built on Saturday—we’re trying to bring that consistency back. I thought from minute one we were all bang in there tonight and just carried on from Saturday in terms of being hard to beat, working hard for each other, always trying to help your teammate out, and then the quality was there as well.”
Anything less than a victory against Madrid would have felt incredibly harsh, as at no point in the game did the La Liga leaders feel like the better side—they just had a goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois who put in a world class performance. Which if you’re Liverpool and facing Thibaut Courtois, well, is the norm.
The stopper has been a frequent foil for the Reds, famously winning Madrid the 2022 Champions League with nine key saves. Last night, he had eight. Without him, it would have been a proverbial paddling. Without him, the Reds would have had three or four or even five goals and a very comfortable victory. As it was, such was their dominance it still felt mostly comfortable.
“I thought he was outstanding, and obviously he managed to keep the score down,” Robertson added. “We had a few big chances, especially at the start of the second half. A bit of déjà vu but then you just have to keep going. So 1-0, a pleasing night, and a massive three points for us and now we move on.”