Liverpool head coach Arne Slot hailed an impressive performance against an "incredible" Real Madrid after Alexis Mac Allister's header secured a 1-0 Champions League win.
The hosts’ domination was reflected in the statistics, which saw them force Thibaut Courtois, the goalkeeper who broke their hearts in the 2022 final, to make nine saves from a total of 17 attempted shots.
By comparison a front five of Kylian Mbappe, who had scored in all but two of his matches this season, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Eduardo Camavinga managed just two on target between them.
"Impressive because we played against an incredible side that is in an unbelievable run of form, only lost once, won all the other games," said Slot, whose team have bounced back from six defeats in seven matches with back-to-back wins for the first time since September.
"If you can win against them but also put in the performance we had that is very positive.
"We had a very bad run of form in terms of results, no excuse in the world can make up for us losing so many games, but we had to play a lot of games in a small amount of time."
Right-back Conor Bradley had an impressive game against Vinicius, having done similarly a year ago against Mbappe in this fixture.
"Conor was outstanding, last season he was outstanding against Real Madrid," Slot added.
"Here, three days after Aston Villa (on Sunday) he was against Vinicius. Real have 26 goals in La Liga and Mbappe and Vinicius have 24 goal contributions but he defended very well."
Real boss Xabi Alonso, a former Liverpool midfielder, has now lost in back-to-back seasons at Anfield after being thumped as Bayer Leverkusen coach a year ago.
"I think we competed well. We played with a good rhythm," said the Spaniard, whose side’s 100% Champions League record was ended after four matches.
"What we lacked was to hurt them in the final third. It was just small details.
"We conceded lots of fouls, Thibaut Courtois wasn’t able to save that header from a set-piece and it was difficult for us today but I am not going to complain about my team, we gave it a good go.
"We need to view this as an isolated defeat. We competed well; we were equal to them. We’ll learn from it."
Former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had been booed all night, came off the bench in the final 10 minutes but could not affect the game with his every touch jeered.
"It could be expected. He is professional and mature so he was ready for that," said Alonso.
Virgil van Dijk addressed Wayne Rooney's criticism of his leadership as he spoke alongside the former Manchester United and England captain after the game.
Van Dijk stood alongside Amazon Prime pundit Rooney, who had been critical of the Dutchman’s leadership, as the Reds captain spoke to the broadcaster after the contest.
"In a world of chaos you have to stay calm and try and take the right perspective," Van Dijk said. "At times the noise was a lot."
When asked if he was looking at anyone of the pundits in particular, Van Dijk said: "Not at all. But I think it’s very important to put things into perspective.
"Keep your head down and work and get out of the situation because quality is what we have. That’s not the issue.
"I think all of you here know that you’re dealing with a squad of 25 players and everyone lives a different life, so for me personally it doesn’t affect me.
"But as a captain I’m dealing with players who might be affected by it (the criticism).
"If you lose four games in a row, as a Liverpool player, then there’s fair criticism – that’s absolutely normal, in that sense.
"But I think it’s over the top at times as well. We live in a world where there’s so many platforms, so many people can say stuff and it gets picked up and made bigger than what it is."
Rooney said in response: "When you win the Premier League, I think what I said was fair. You don’t expect Liverpool to lose four games in a row.
"I think the response has been great from Virgil and the team."
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