Northern Ireland defender Conor Bradley produced a masterclass of a performance for Liverpool as he made history with his display against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The 21-year-old kept France hero Kylian Mbappe quiet all night, including a thunderous sliding tackle on last year’s Ballon d’Or finalist, as the Reds racked up a 2-0 win at Anfield, their first over the Spanish giants since 2009.
The crowning moment was that slide tackle on Mbappe, the Madrid forward racing through on goal but suddenly sent head over heels by the Castlederg man just as he reached the edge of the box on a night where the winger was kept practically anonymous.
To cap it off, Bradley also picked up an assist on Alexis Mac Allister’s opening goal, making history for Liverpool, as our reporter Steven Beacom outlines below.
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The right-back also received praise from former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who hailed the Co Tyrone man as “outstanding” for his performance at Anfield which kept England international Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the line-up.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
BBC pundit and former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy added: “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.
“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.”