Liverpool v Real Madrid: Champions League - live

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Half-time postbag. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … if the modern handball rule comes down to refs deciding what is and is not a ‘natural position’, then the rule is broken” – Ted Graves

“He’s listed as being Romanian; but I suspect there’s some Manc blood in the Kovacs family. He’s already tackled Mac Allister and then overturned a nailed-on penalty. Comedy gold tonight at Anfield!” – Justin Kavanagh

“Re my earlier email (45 min). Actually, it should’ve been - it’s not handball so it’s not a penalty so go back to the free kick. But the offence was in the area so VAR has to intervene. But it’s not handball so go back to the free kick. Basically, the referee should be infinitely spinning like a black hole in front of the monitor” – Dan Christmas

“Why don’t we just get rid of the handball rule altogether for a laugh, see how it goes?” – Simon McMahon

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HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid

Liverpool go off to cheers, the referee to boos. Opprobrium-o-meter™ off the scale!

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Updated at 15.54 EST

45 min +2: Huijsen flies in hard on Ekitike. Too hard, and a tad late as well. Into the book he goes. From the resulting free kick, Liverpool advance on the Real box, and Mac Allister joins Szoboszlai in having a drive towards the bottom left parried well by Courtois.

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45 min +1: The first of two additional minutes flies by. “My younger son switched youth football clubs over the summer, at around the same time Trent Alexander-Arnold moved to Real Madrid,” begins Peter Oh. “My kid’s favored jersey numbers were already taken, so he picked 66 in honor of TAA. Imagine our surprise when we learned that Trent changed to 12 at his new club. ¿En serio? Anyway, the least that Xabi Alonso (thanks for the number 14 memories!) could do to put things right is to introduce Trent in the 66th minute.”

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45 min: Bellingham sashays his way into the Liverpool box, making it to the left-hand corner of the six-yard area. He tries to force the ball home at the near post, but Mamardashvili stands strong to block. As close as Real have come. “If VAR can’t intervene in the awarding of free kicks, then if the referee decides it’s not a penalty because it wasn’t handball he can’t overturn his decision to give a free kick?” wonders Dan Christmas. “What I’m saying is, the current laws of football are bananuts.”

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43 min: Szoboszlai is in the mood to shoot on sight tonight. He takes another pot from the right-hand edge of the D. A powerful riser that requires Courtois to parry with a strong hand. The rebound doesn’t sit up for Salah, though his presence is enough to win a corner … but nothing comes of the set piece.

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42 min: There’s an edge to this now, and Bellingham slip-slides through the back of Wirtz. Both teams giving it absolutely everything.

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40 min: Vinícius Júnior tries to bust his way past Bradley on the outside, but slips. As he falls, he’s grazed in the face by one of Bradley’s fingers. He points to his mouth. He wants a spot kick. Another referee, another day, maybe. It would have been terribly soft, but you’ve seen them given. “Living the shots of Trent,” begins Kev McCready. “The vibe of teenager banned off his X-Box. What us Scousers would call a ‘cob on’ or a ‘titty lip’.”

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Updated at 15.46 EST

39 min: Robertson gifts possession to Guler, who dribbles into the Liverpool box from the right. Robertson makes up for his mistake by stealing the ball back, though he had to time his challenge to perfection. He wasn’t far off clipping Guler for a penalty there. Had the referee pointed to the spot, after what’s just happened up the other end, all bets would have been off.

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37 min: From the right-hand edge of the D, Szoboszlai attempts to thread a low shot into the bottom-left corner. Easy for Courtois.

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36 min: The Liverpool fans are beyond furious. A sense of injustice burns. The Liverpool players meanwhile put it all behind them and keep pressing Real back.

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34 min: On Amazon Prime, former referee Mark Clattenberg disagrees with the referee’s decision. So does Alan Shearer. Both contend Tchouaméni’s arm was in an unnatural position. But it’s referee István Kovács’s decision which counts.

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33 min: … it’s not a penalty! And that’s because the referee overturns his decision of handball! Tchouaméni’s hand judged to be in a natural position. Not even a free kick for Liverpool. That’s absurd.

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Updated at 15.37 EST

32 min: The referee is called over to the monitor. Another long look, and …

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31 min: VAR are taking a long look at this. Tchouaméni’s arm was clearly in the box, as was most of his body. Surely this will be given as a penalty.

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30 min: Szoboszlai is teed up for a shot, just to the right of the Real D. His effort hits Tchouaméni’s hanging hand. The referee points for a free kick, just shy of the line. But that looked inside the box. This might be a penalty, you know. Over to VAR.

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Updated at 15.35 EST

29 min: A Liverpool corner. Van Dijk heads harmlessly over. The hosts are getting back into this.

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27 min: Loads of space for Wirtz down the right. He rolls a perfect pass into the centre for Szoboszlai, who from the penalty spot tries to dink Courtois. The keeper sticks out a strong arm to claw sensationally away. It should be 1-0. Courtois has done this to Liverpool before.

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26 min: Carreras goes over in the Liverpool box, his run from the left checked by Bradley. No penalty. It probably wasn’t a penalty anyway, but the referee certainly wasn’t going to give one, having got in the way of Mac Allister seconds before, when Liverpool were in the process of building an attack of their own. Had Real scored there, it’d have been bedlam.

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25 min: Real are certainly bossing it in terms of passes completed: they’re up 167 to 76.

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24 min: Szoboszlai floats the free kick to the far post. Konate tries to nod it back into the crowded centre, but can’t get enough purchase on his header and Real clear their lines. It’s been a nice, free-flowing game between two positive sides, but neither keeper has had a save to make as of yet.

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23 min: Bradley barrels down the middle of the park with passing options either side. Vinícius Júnior, tracking back, is forced to take one for the team. He hauls Bradley down and goes into the book. A free kick to the right of centre, 25 yards out. Szoboszlai to take.

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22 min: Real pass, pass and pass, at which point Van Dijk gets fed up and clips Mbappe. A free kick, 30 yards out. Real pack the box, but Valverde’s delivery flies over everyone’s head. Goal kick.

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21 min: … but the volume goes right up again as the clock ticks over to the number 20. A song in memory of a fallen hero. Better than Figo, don’t you know.

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19 min: Real are beginning to dominate the ball, without doing too much with it in the final third. Anfield just a little bit quieter now, as the home fans realise what pattern is in danger of being established.

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Updated at 15.29 EST

17 min: Éder Militão has a shot blocked on the edge of the Liverpool box. The hosts counter. Ekitiké shoots. Another block. Real counter the counter, then Mbappé hoists an effort high into the Anfield Road end. This is good fun. Both teams fancy this.

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15 min: Wirtz is in acres out on the left. A better ball from Szoboszlai would set him clear, but it’s played behind his back. Wirtz is forced to check his run and the situation is over. Szoboszlai, who has been Liverpool’s player of the season so far, still has plenty of moral credit in the bank.

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13 min: Salah wriggles free of Carreras down the right. Carreras grabs a bit of his shirt, and would be in yellow-tinted trouble had Salah decided to go down. But Salah stays up and makes it into the box, whereupon his attempted shot is blocked. “I’m watching the game in foreign here in USA USA USA, as it’s only on Univision,” reports Justin Kavanagh. “Trent Alexander-Arnold seemed to be having the game of his life, given the number of times he’d already been mentioned, but then I saw he was on the bench. Even the ref has had more touches so far, but he’s dominating the commentary. Si signor!”

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12 min: Vinícius Júnior looks to have skinned Bradley on the left touchline … but the ball’s gone out for a throw. Just. Vinícius Júnior smiles and wags his finger at the referee. The small margins. Liverpool nearly opened up by his skill.

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10 min: Wirtz’s sheer persistence wins the ball off Huijsen near the right-hand corner flag. He cuts back for Szoboszlai, who rolls across the face of the box towards Mac Allister. The midfielder leans back and fires a rising shot into the Kop. That was a decent shooting opportunity and Mac Allister should have worked Courtois at the very least.

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8 min: … and almost immediately, Vinícius Júnior comes back at Bradley, stops just to the left of the box, shielding the ball and winning a foul. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, but yes, this’ll be a duel to keep an eye on.

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Updated at 15.20 EST

7 min: Vinícius Júnior dribbles dangerously down the left but eventually runs bang-slap into Bradley, who was not for moving. A little bit of afters, the pair shouldering into each other. This’ll be a battle worth watching.

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5 min: Ekitike races after a long ball down the middle. For a second, it looks as though he’s clear on goal, Huijsen strangely hesitant. But the defender knows the striker will be flagged offside, and eventually the whistle goes.

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3 min: Wirtz pops up on the other flank and busies himself. He slips a pass infield for Ekitike, who miscontrols, then skittles Valverde to the floor. Free kick. But Liverpool will be happy enough with the first few exchanges.

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2 min: … but the hosts are on the front foot. Bradley advances down the middle and finds Ekitike, who flicks down the inside-right channel for Wirtz. But Liverpool’s number seven is on the back foot and doesn’t respond. A chance goes begging.

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1 min: Liverpool are playing towards the Kop in this first half. They prefer it the other way round; Xabi Alonso has clearly given his captain Federico Valverde the heads-up on that.

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Liverpool get the ball rolling. The Anfield faithful chant the name of Andy Robertson in the pointed style. His old full-back friend looking on from the benches.

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Updated at 15.12 EST

Anfield performs You’ll Never Walk Alone as one, then the teams emerge from the tunnel. Liverpool in red, Real Madrid in meringue white, like you needed to be told any of that. It’s raining extremely heavily. I’d use the adjective Mancunian, but, well, y’know. A blast of Zadok the Priest (Uefa Mix) is met with a wall of abuse – nine out of ten on the aforementioned Opprobrium-o-meter™, which I’ve patched up with gaffer tape and glue – and then everyone shakes hands. We’ll be off in a minute!

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Real Madrid emerge from the tunnel to warm up. Just the starting XI at first. They’re met with a no-nonsense blast of booing that registers 8.5 out of 10 on Guardian Sport’s fully patented Alexander-Arnold Opprobrium-o-meter™. Then a couple of minutes later, out come the subs. All of them bar Trent, who exchanges some friendly words and hugs with old friends on the Liverpool staff in the tunnel. All lovely. Then finally he makes it to the pitch, at which point it’s officially panto season. The stands are only half full at the moment, but still the booing is loud enough for the needle to shear clean off of our Alexander-Arnold Opprobrium-o-meter™. They’ve broken the Opprobrium-o-meter™! But then the boos subside as quickly as they went up. Trent is laughing quite a lot, and a fair few of the folk pictured hollering at him from the stands are enjoying themselves with a smile as well. Yeah, it’s panto season all right.

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Updated at 14.46 EST

Arne Slot speaks to Amazon Prime. “A great fixture … we’re all looking forward to a game like this … these clubs have met each other multiple times … so it’s a special evening, special occasion, special game … as many times before, I play Florian Wirtz … [laughing] if I play him, you ask about him, and if I don’t play him, you ask about him! … he is the left winger tonight … our high press was most of the time really good [against Villa] … that was positive … open play we didn’t create as much [as at Brentford, Palace or United] but the pressing was better.”

As for the reception a certain full-back might get upon returning to his alma mater? “I have no clue … he is an incredible player and a great human being.”

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The big news for Liverpool is the return of Florian Wirtz to the starting line-up. He takes the place of Cody Gakpo, on the left side of the front three. That’s the only change from the team that started the 2-0 win over Aston Villa last weekend.

The big news for Liverpool fans is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is only on the bench for Real Madrid. Andrew Robertson would have enjoyed facing his old team-mate out on the flank, but that particular showdown will have to wait. On the other side of the pitch, Kylian Mbappé will lock horns again with Conor Bradley, who hit him with that tackle last year.

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The teams

Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Ekitike, Wirtz.

Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Ngumoha, Misciur.

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Eder Militao, Huijsen, Carreras, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Camavinga, Guler, Vinicius Junior, Mbappe.

Subs: Lunin, Gonzalez, Endrick, Rodrygo, Alexander-Arnold, Gonzalo Garcia, Asencio, Ceballos, Francisco Garcia, Diaz, Mendy.

Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania).

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Hugo Ekitiké talks to Amazon Prime. “I feel good … excited … we have had a bit of a struggle … sometimes up, sometimes down … the win [against Villa] means we can go into tonight’s game with more confidence and more energy … we have to work as a team to stop [Kylian Mbappé] … he’s a top player so it’ll be a beautiful game to watch tonight.”

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There’s already been some Trent-centric news today. Pelters during the 90 minutes is fair game, all part of football’s pantomime swirl. This seems a bit low-rent, though. Probably best to stress that one doofus with a pot of paint doesn’t define an entire fanbase. The mural’s been cleaned up now, so all’s good in the end.

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Preamble

Alan Kennedy. Yossi Benayoun. Steven Gerrard. Andrea Dossena. Karim Benzema (x5). Gareth Bale. Vinicius Junior (x3). Alexis Mac Allister. Some big names there, plus one smile-on-face, cherry-on-cake curveball, who have all made their mark on crème-de-la-crème showdowns between two of European football’s most glamorous clubs.

Another star could become part of that gilded story this evening: Trent Alexander-Arnold, the once-beloved scouser in Liverpool’s team. He returns to Anfield tonight with all eyes on, whether he starts or sits … and yet he’s already made the most important impression he could, in laying this heartfelt tribute outside his old stomping ground to his fallen mate.

There’s still a big game to be played, and Real Madrid are up by two finals to one, with seven wins to Liverpool’s four. They’re in better recent form as well, having won all but one of their 14 fixtures in all competitions so far this season. But after a run of six defeats in seven, Liverpool got back on the horse last Saturday with perhaps their best performance of the campaign in beating Aston Villa, so good luck calling this one. It’ll almost certainly be emotional. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, and Diogo Jota will always be Liverpool’s number 20.

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