Mbappe struggles again at Anfield as Liverpool beats Madrid 1-0

LIVERPOOL: Kylian Mbappe has been near-unstoppable this season.

At Anfield on Tuesday, he hit a roadblock. Again.

For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget on Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0 in the Champions League, and Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defences apart all season.

“We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually.

But the France World Cup winner rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team that had been so defensively fragile for much of the campaign.

Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games and having produced the kind of form that is likely to put him in contention to finally win the Ballon d'Or award. But he managed just three attempts throughout the match, with none of them hitting the target. Vinicius Junior, too, was largely kept on the fringes of the action.

Liverpool coach Arne Slot said he had sharpened the focus of his players before the match by reminding them of goal contributions made by Mbappe and Vinicius this season.

“I told the players before the game they (Madrid) have scored 26 goals in La Liga and Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius have 24 goal contributions together,” he said. “I don't think you can ever control these two completely, but you can do a few things well.”

Mbappe's best opportunity came in the second half with Madrid trailing Alexis Mac Allister's 61st-minute header. Receiving the ball inside the box he shaped to curl a shot into the top corner — only for his effort to drift well wide of the goal.

It was a case of history repeating itself for Mbappe, who endured a miserable night at the same stadium last year when Madrid was again beaten by Liverpool in the league phase of European soccer's elite competition.

On that occasion, Mbappe was guilty of missing a penalty that would have levelled the score before Liverpool went on to win 2-0.

At least he didn't suffer the same indignity on this occasion, with Madrid kept well at bay by the Premier League champion.

(Sub-head) Arsenal beats Prague 3-0, climbs top of table

Mikel Merino showed his makeshift striker skills once again in place of the injured Viktor Gyokeres as his double sent Arsenal top of the Champions League via a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague.

Gyokeres' injury concerned Mikel Arteta but his woes were eased by the Spaniard striking twice in the second half - on a night when Arsenal also entered the defensive history books.

An eighth clean sheet in a row equals a club record for consecutive shutouts set in the 1903/04 season, while this Arsenal team have become the first English side to win their first four games in this competition without conceding since Leeds United in the 1969/70 European Cup.