Conor Bradley praised by Thierry Henry after what he did to Kylian Mbappe
Right-back Conor Bradley caught the eye for Liverpool in their 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League after setting the tone with a brilliant tackle on Kylian Mbappe
by Felix Keith · The MirrorThierry Henry has hailed Conor Bradley for nullifying Kylian Mbappe in Liverpool’s impressive win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Liverpool picked up their first victory against Real since 2009 on a raucous night at Anfield in the Champions League. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring with a neat finish before Mbappe and Mohamed Salah both failed to score from the penalty spot.
Salah’s miss from 12 yards wasn’t costly for the Reds, who claimed a 2-0 win thanks to Cody Gakpo’s header from a short corner. There were many brilliant performances from the home side, but Bradley’s efforts at right-back caught the eye of many – and one moment stood out above all the others.
Mbappe appeared to be racing through on goal on the break in the first half having beaten Mac Allister for pace, but Bradley had other ideas. Racing across at full speed, Bradley launched in a perfectly-timed slide-tackle to dispossess the France star and earn a huge roar from the Anfield crowd.
It was a moment which encapsulated his display against Mbappe, who was shackled and failed to provide the spark a disappointing Real desperately needed. “That [tackle] for me, already did set the tone,” Henry said on CBS Sports. “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.
“We see him making that run [forwards], every time – he fancied it. You could see, he fancied himself against Mbappe. Everything he did was spot on. We were waiting for Salah, we were waiting for Mbappe, but we saw Conor Bradley, so fair play to him.”
Henry added: “Conor Bradley was just outstanding. I think he didn’t have to do a lot defensively because Mbappe didn’t do a lot offensively. So, it became very easy.
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“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 (for Mac Allister’s goal) was not a Trent [Alexander-Arnold] assist, in all fairness, but still, he is where he is supposed to be.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy was similarly impressed with Bradley, who was forced off late on with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Analysing the Mbappe tackle of the BBC ’s Champions League highlights, he said: “This was probably the biggest roar of the night. It’s the athleticism and the timing and also the courage to do it. There’s no respect. The ball needs winning. Doesn’t matter who you are.”
He added: “When you see a young player play in arguably his biggest game against one of the best players in Europe on such a huge occasion with a pressurised atmosphere and perform like that, it’s incredible really. I think he’s got a great future. I know there’s a lot of talk about Trent at the moment, but what a player to come in and fill in the gaps for him.”
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