Thierry Henry has said that Conor Bradley was ‘outstanding’ for Liverpool in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield.
Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo delivered the Reds a deserved victory to keep Arne Slot’s men top of the UEFA Champions League table.
But Bradley was widely hailed as the Man of the Match, including by Mail Sport’s Lewis Steele who scored him a mark of 9/10 in his player ratings.
Bradley touched the ball 70 times in his 86 minutes on the field and he played 49 passes – including an assist for Mac Allister’s goal – as well as registering two shots.
The right back also completed more tackles (four) than any other Liverpool player – one of which was a crunching sliding challenge on Kylian Mbappe in the 32nd minute.
Bradley did not commit a single foul, but was himself fouled three times.
Liverpool’s Conor Bradley (left) impressed in his personal battle with Kylian Mbappe (right)
Real Madrid forward Mbappe was unable to get the better of Bradley at Anfield on Wednesday
Right back Bradley made four tackles during the game without giving away a single free-kick
Reflecting on Bradley’s firm but fair first-half slide tackle on Mbappe, former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Henry said on CBS Sports: ‘That, for me, already did set the tone.’
Henry, who was joined on the CBS panel by Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards, added: ‘Boom! That’s it. You all know, you guys were centre back, right back, whatever, when you go into someone like that at the beginning of the game, you’re going to struggle.’
Henry was also very impressed by what Bradley produced in an attacking sense.
‘We see him making that run [forward], every time – he fancied it,’ Henry continued. ‘You could see, he fancied himself against Mbappe.
‘Everything he did was spot on. We were waiting for Mo Salah, we were waiting for Mbappe, but we saw Conor Bradley, so fair play to him.’
Wednesday’s game saw Bradley start under Slot for only the fourth time this season, with two of his first three starts having come in the Carabao Cup.
But the manager’s decision to play the Northern Irishman instead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was an unused substitute, proved to be a very shrewd move.
In summary, Henry concluded: ‘Conor Bradley was just outstanding.
Bradley also set up team-mate Alexis Mac Allister (third right) for the game’s opening goal
Thierry Henry, pictured during an appearance on CBS Sports, was very impressed by Bradley
Henry was joined during CBS Sports’ coverage of Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League action by Kate Scott (left), Jamie Carragher (second right) and Micah Richards (right)
‘I think he didn’t have to do a lot defensively because Mbappe didn’t do a lot offensively. So, it became very easy.
‘But, the positions he takes right now and what he can do and how he understands when he needs to make that run.
‘The assist was not a Trent assist, in all fairness, but still, he is where he is supposed to be.’
After beating the 15-time champions of Europe on Wednesday, Liverpool sit top of the Champions League table with 15 points from five games. Madrid are now 24th with just six points.
Teams placed between ninth and 24th at the end of the league phase will take part in a two-legged play-off, with the winners reaching the last 16.
The top eight teams in the league phase will progress directly to the round of 16, while teams who finish 25th to 36th will be eliminated from Europe.
Liverpool’s next three Champions League fixtures are against Girona, Lille and PSV Eindhoven.
The league phase will conclude on January 29, before the play-off round takes place in February. The round of 16 will then begin on March 4.
