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

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — 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 defenses 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 has 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 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 leveled 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.

Anfield is famed as one of the most daunting stadiums for away teams in Europe and a hostile atmosphere may have contributed to Mbappe's struggles. The mood became even more intense when former Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold came on to loud jeers late in the match.

“I was impressed by the atmosphere throughout the whole 90 minutes,” Slot said.

It was the first time Madrid has failed to score all season and only its second loss in all competitions.

“I think we competed well,” Alonso said. “What was lacking today was perhaps (the ability) to hurt them in the final third and be a real threat.”

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Madrid's head coach Xabi Alonso and Kylian Mbappe walk off the oitch after the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Real Madrid's head coach Xabi Alonso and Kylian Mbappe walk off the oitch after the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Pressure to boycott upcoming Nations League games against Israel over that country’s actions in Gaza was taking its toll on the Ireland team Saturday when players ultimately put their participation to a vote.

Ireland is due to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary in the first of those games Sunday, but the team’s press conference and training session Saturday were delayed by more than five hours as the players again held discussions among themselves in the team hotel over whether they should play.

“A player expressed their discomfort with fulfilling this fixture to the head coach and indicated their intent to withdraw from the squad," David Courell, the CEO of the Football Association of Ireland, told journalists in the rescheduled press conference. “As you can understand, this new variable required time and deliberation for the rest of the squad to consider.”

Courell said a vote was taken among the players and that “a significant majority” were in favor of continuing with the games.

“Based on that, the association took the decision on behalf of Irish football that this fixture would continue as we have always intended to fulfill the fixtures,” Courell said.

Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu reportedly told the team the night before that he did not want to play. His name was not mentioned in the press conference, but it appears he has left the squad.

“All the rest of the players are training today,” Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said. “It’s an ongoing discussion and we haven’t come to a kind of conclusion on this, but we are going ahead, the game is going ahead, we’re going to train. And there will be more discussions tonight and probably tomorrow."

Journalists in Debrecen — where Israel’s “home” game is to be played Sunday — were left waiting after being told the press conference was being pushed back until after training. That was 15 minutes before it was supposed to begin. Training was also significantly delayed, however.

The team has been coming under increasing pressure in Ireland, where affinity with Palestinians is strong, to boycott the two games — the first on Sunday and the second, Ireland’s “home” game, in Backa Topola, Serbia on Oct. 4.

Ireland midfielder Jason Knight said after Thursday’s 1-0 loss in Kosovo that the players were in a difficult situation and that he didn’t think the matches should be going ahead.

Hallgrimsson previously said “we’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide. We’re playing against Israel, we’re not playing with Israel” — drawing a furious reaction from the Israeli soccer federation, which accused the Icelandic coach of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy.”

The FAI had resisted calls to boycott the matches, arguing the team could be hit be punishing sanctions by UEFA. Ireland is co-hosting the 2028 European Championship with England, Wales and Scotland.

More than 160 Irish sportspeople signed an open letter urging the FAI to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the fixtures.

There were protestors outside the team hotel in Dublin last week calling on the players to boycott the games. The SIPTU trade union displayed a huge poster in central Dublin beside the River Liffey asking the players to “Go with your conscience!” and “Don't play with genocide” beside an image of a blood-splattered ball.

Former Ireland coach Brian Kerr said the FAI had “lost of the respect of the Irish people” for going ahead with the games.

“The Irish people and the soccer-going public don’t want the games to be played,” Kerr said. “I think they’ve made their opinions clear over the last year. The FAI back in November actually went to UEFA and requested that Israel be put out of the tournament on a principle. And yet they went against that principle.”

UEFA has been asked for comment on Saturday's developments.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

FILE - Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson ahead of the World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Hungary and Ireland in Budapest, Hungary, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)

Ireland's Jack Moylan, right, challenges for the ball with Kosovo's Albian Hajdari during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Kosovo and Ireland in Pristina, Kosovo, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Ireland's players pose for the team picture before the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Kosovo and Ireland in Pristina, Kosovo, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)