MacAllister finds a way past Courtois as Liverpool edge Real Madrid at raucous Anfield

To rub salt into Trent Alexander-Arnold's wounds, his long-term replacement Conor Bradley stood out at right back in a near faultless performance for Arne Slot's side.

Alexis Mac Allister scores Liverpool's first goal past Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid during the Champions League match at Anfield. Picture: Carl Recine/Getty Images

Champions League: Liverpool 1 Real Madrid 0 

ALEXIS MacAllister's first goal since April was well worth the wait as Liverpool came out on top in the battle of the European heavyweights.

It was always going to take something special to find a way past Thibaut Courtois as the Real Madrid keeper matched his man-of-the match heroics in the Spaniards' Champions League final victory over Jurgen Klopp's side three years ago, and so it proved as Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder won it with a bullet of a header midway through the second half.

Trent Alexander-Arnold came off the bench for the last 10 minutes to a cacophony of boos, but the returning prodigal son was unable to help fashion an equaliser as the Spanish league leaders lost for only the second time this season.

To rub salt into Alexander-Arnold's wounds, his long-term replacement Conor Bradley stood out at right back in a near faultless performance for Arne Slot's side.

If Liverpool were irked at losing the toss and being invited to break with tradition by shooting towards the Kop in the first-half they put that frustration to good use as they pinned the visitors in their own half for long spells from the very start.

Feeding on the visceral energy provided by an Anfield full-house to go at their opponents at a frenetic pace, Slot's side were purposeful in everything they did. MacAllister sent a curling effort narrowly wide from the edge of the area after some dogged harrying from Florian Wirtz - the only change from the side that beat Aston Villa - won the ball back down the Liverpool right.

It was after the quarter-of-an-hour mark before the Spanish giants showed, or at least were allowed to show, the first signs of attacking intent.

Fortunately for the hosts, neat approach play from Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham on a 60-yard counter-attack was not matched by the finish from Kylian Mbappe, which threatened the upper tier behind Giorgi Mamardashvili's goal as the Frenchman let fly from 20 yards.

It took until the half hour mark before the arrival of the first big chance Wirtz pounced on a misplaced pass surge down the right and provide a perfect cut back for an unmarked Dominik Szoboszlai - who looked certain to break the deadlock from a dozen yards, but hadn't factored in the rapidly looming figure of 6ft 7in Courtois who produced a brilliant block to maintain parity.

As the pressure grew on the Real goal, Liverpool looked like having a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot when a Szoboszlai shot cannoned off the left arm of Aurelien Tchouameni in his attempts to block.

Istvan Kovacs gave a free-kick on the very edge of the box but was invited by VAR to review his decision as the French midfielder was inside the area when the ball struck. 

Astonishingly, after consulting the screen, the Romanian referee reversed his original handball decision in a major let-off for the visitors.

There was further fortune for Real before half-time when Vinicius Junior, who was already on a yellow card for a foul on Bradley, threw himself to the ground in the area after the Irishman's hand made minimal contact with his face as they tussled for possession. 

Many referees would have issued a second yellow for a blatant dive, but the Brazilian escaped on this occasion.

Courtois continued to be by far the busier of the goalkeepers, and the Belgian produced two more fine saves, both to his right to stop a couple more Szoboszlai pile-drivers from distance, Mo Salah narrowly failing to pounce on the rebound from the first.

It took until the final minute of the first half for Mamardashvili to be called into action as the giant Georgian stood firm to block a shot from Bellingham at his near post after the England midfielder found a way past Ibrahima Konate.

Liverpool carved out three outstanding chances from set-pieces to break the deadlock within five minutes of the restart only for Courtois to produce more brilliance to keep out headers from Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike, before from another inviting centre, the Frenchman put another header narrowly wide.

Liverpool finally achieved the seemingly impossible by finding a way past Courtois just after the hour mark. From Szoboszlai's in-swinging free-kick MacAllister timed his run to perfection to send in a thumping header which even the Real keeper couldn't prevent from finding the back of the net.

There was still a nervous hiatus, Anfield holding its collective breath as the goal survived VAR scrutiny by what appeared to be the width of Bellingham's toenail playing the advancing line of Liverpool players onside.

Forced to come out of their shell, Real began to force the pace and for a split second Mbappe thought he'd equalised when he redirected a cross with a deft effort that flew inches wide of the target with Mamardashvili struggling to cover.

There were further heroics from Courtois to keep his side in it as they left holes in defence in an effort to find a way back into the contest, but it proved a fruitless task for the Spaniards who succumbed to a rare defeat as the Liverpool revival gathers pace.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mamardashvili 7; Bradley 8, Konate 7, van Dijk 7, Robertson 8 (Kerkez 89, 6); Szoboszlai 7, Gravenberch 6, MacAllister 8 (Jones 79, 6); Salah 6, Ekitike 6 (Gakpo 79, 6), Wirtz 6 (Chiesa 88, 6). 

Booked: MacAllister. 

Real Madrid (4-1-4-1): Courtois 8; Valverde 6 (Diaz 90, 5), Eder Militao 6, Huijsen 6, Carreras 6; Tchouameni 6; Bellingham 7; Camavinga 6 (Rodrygo 68, 6), Guler 6 (Alexander-Arnold 82, 5), Vinicius Junior 5; Mbappe 6. 

Booked: Vinicius, Huijsen, Bellingham, Carreras.

Referee: Istvan Kovacs.