In the Zone: How Mac Allister led Reds' midfield masterclass

Not for 15 years had Liverpool beaten Real Madrid prior to the defending champions' visit to Anfield on Wednesday evening. By the end of the night, though, Arne Slot's men had ended an eight-match winless run against them and, in the process, earned their fifth straight win in this Champions League campaign.

Fittingly, the UEFA match observer at Anfield was Rafa Benítez, manager of Liverpool for that 2009 last-16 win against Madrid (another of his former clubs), and in this analysis article for FedEx, the Spaniard identifies the home midfielders as pivotal to an impressive 2-0 triumph. "The main difference were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes, and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders," he explained.

Player of the Match Alexis Mac Allister embodied all of those aspects and his opening goal is the subject of the first clip in the video above. It begins with Mac Allister collecting from Virgil van Dijk's pass and then advancing into space higher upfield, where he first makes himself available to receive from Curtis Jones before combining with the excellent Conor Bradley and striking an excellent goal.

"He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half," said Benítez of the Liverpool No10. If clip one illustrates Mac Allister's ability to find space to receive between the lines, the second clip highlights his passing ability. Once more we see him collect a pass between the lines before he angles a brilliantly guided ball on to the head of Bradley, who has made the run in behind.

According to Benítez, Jones excelled also – "He took up good positions and made runs in behind" – and the homegrown midfielder is the subject of the third clip, taken from the second half when he got forward more.

After dropping deep to receive from Andy Robertson, Jones wriggles away from Luka Modrić before driving into the Madrid half. After feeding Luis Díaz on the left, he keeps moving and duly receives a return pass from the Colombian before stepping into the box and teeing up an opportunity for Mac Allister.

The contribution of that pair is reflected by the data, with Mac Allister ranked first in the match for passes in behind (seven) and joint-first for key passes (two). As for Jones, he was the player who received the ball most between the lines (14) and he also excelled at line-breaking passes with 19 – the game's second-highest total.

The third midfielder in Slot's starting XI, Ryan Gravenberch, also caught the eye with Benítez observing that his positioning "was difficult for Real Madrid to control". "He is so comfortable on the ball," added Liverpool manager Slot of his fellow Dutchman, whose energy, meanwhile, was reflected by his total of 21 pressures – joint-second in the Reds team with Mac Allister.

As for his overall summary of Liverpool's display, Slot felt that patience had paid off after a first half when "we lost the ball in very easy situations or forced it a bit too much". His half-time instruction was to "let the gaps open up instead of forcing them" – and how impressively they exploited those gaps in the second period.