Liverpool shines in the Champions League and dumps Real Madrid down the table. Dortmund moves up to 4th place

Liverpool are 100% on top Champions League after dumping title holders Real Madrid into an almost unfathomable 24th place in the the position of 36 teams on Wednesday.

No one felt the embarrassment of Madrid’s 2-0 loss at Anfield more than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the autumn by the big club who were also European champions against Liverpool in the 2022 and 2018 finals.

Mbappé saved a penalty kick in the second half and was earlier dumped on the backside by Conor Bradley’s stunning tackle in an instantly viral moment.

Only Liverpool have started the new Champions League format with five wins, and first-year coach Arne Slot’s team are two points ahead of Inter Milan. Barcelona is in third place, behind Liverpool with three points.

Madrid, remarkably, with three rounds remaining, are just one place above elimination. The top eight teams at the end of January advance directly to the round of 16 in March, and teams placed ninth to 24th enter a round of two-legged playoffs in February.

“(This) doesn’t change much because even with a win it would be difficult to secure a top-eight finish,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It was a fair result.”

Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, surrendering a 10-man lead from the 58th minute in a 3-2 loss at home to Benfica. Swiss striker Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th minute.

Borussia Dortmund, beaten finalists against Madrid in May, are up to fourth after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Champions League standout Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, scoring a rising shot in the 41st to open the scoring in Croatia.

The best comeback was at PSV Eindhoven, with the home side trailing Shakhtar Donetsk by two goals in the 87th minute, before a 3-2 victory was sealed by American striker Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep in stoppage time.

American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored one embarrassing own goal for Celtic – played a no-look pass well beyond goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel – in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.

“One of those things,” Schmeichel said. “Cam is being pressured and he hasn’t heard me yell that I’m not in (goal).”

Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed in wins for Little and Red Star Belgrade.

Mukau scored twice in 12th-placed Lille’s 2-1 win at Bologna and Silas equalized for Red Star in a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart, although he hardly celebrated his goal. Silas is on loan from the Serbian champions from Stuttgart.

Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw against Juventus was preserved by one excellent save by Emiliano Martinezthe World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper, dived low to push away a header from Francisco Conceição.

Bradley beats Mbappé

Liverpool’s stand-in right-back Bradley was a standout on Wednesday, denying Mbappé at speed in a characteristic defensive display in the 32nd minute.

The 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender, deputizing for the fit-again Trent Alexander-Arnold, joined the attack in the 52nd to play a key pass that returned the ball to Alexis Mac Allister, who scored the opening goal.

After Mbappé’s penalty was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 61st, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed his spot-kick in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed victory with a header in the 77th.

Madrid have now lost three out of five games after defeats in Lille and at home to AC Milan. The record 15-time European champions have another tough trip next time, at fifth-placed Atalanta on December 10. On the same date, Liverpool are in 30th place in Girona and look to be heading into the last 16.

“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times,” Liverpool coach Slot said of Madrid. “They were also a pain for Liverpool for many years.”

First wins, first points

Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended up losing four games to get their first points and wins.

Red Star rallied against Stuttgart after the German side took the lead in the fifth minute. The 1991 European Cup winner’s goal to tie the game in the 12th was scored by on-loan Silas. He held his hands up as if apologizing as part of a low-key celebration.

Sturm Graz won 1-0 over Girona, the Spanish newcomer to European competitions. It was the Austrian champion’s first Champions League game since coach Christian Ilzer left to join Hoffenheim.

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AP football: