'I saw Trent Alexander-Arnold play for Real Madrid - here are 3 big talking points'

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Trent Alexander-Arnold had arguably his best game in a Real Madrid shirt during his side's ho-hum 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg on a wet Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
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The win secured Los Blancos a place in the knockout stages against Juventus.. New Madrid coach Xabi Alonso shifted Alexander-Arnold out to right-wing back for the first time, and he fit like a glove. He worked closer to the touchline than he did while growing to prominence under former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
The Spanish giants paid €10 million ($11.7 million) to Liverpool solely to acquire the England international's services for the group stage; Madrid would have had him for free starting July 1. Here are some first-person observations from he press box in Philadelphia.
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Position change
Alonso slotted Aurelien Tchouameni in between center-backs Dean Huijsen and Antonio Rudiger in a Davie Luiz under Antonio Conte-esque role, freeing Alexander-Arnold to move out to right wing-back.
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The England international looked more like Jeremie Frimpong at Bayer Leverkusen than Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool circa 2022. He hugged the touchline, sat next to the Salzburg 18-yard-box, and would immediately jog out wide if he found himself tucking towards the middle of the pitch for any reason.
Alexander-Arnold was particularly dominant in the first half as Los Blancos were in the ascendancy.
He completed three of seven crosses — including one that Rudiger nearly scored — and won four of his six ground duels. His 54 touches show that despite being deployed out wide, he's still a key part of the team's buildup.
Strong relationship with Jude... on the Pitch
Alexander-Arnold was once thought to be recruiting Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund to Liverpool. The pair clearly always wanted to play together at club level, and they got their wish with the right-back's free transfer to Madrid this summer.
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Whenever Alexander-Arnold would invert for Liverpool under Klopp, much-maligned midfielder Jordan Henderson would often slide out wide to fill the space and prevent a possible counter.
Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold enjoy a close relationship off the pitch
At Madrid, whenever Alexander-Arnold found himself near the opposing touchline, it would be Bellingham filling the space. This isn't a comparison between the two players, just an observation that they fill similar roles.
In the 69th minute, Alexander-Arnold telepathically rolled a backheel pass to Bellingham on the edge of the penalty area. The move amounted to nothing: the Madrid midfielder's subsequent cross didn't find a teammate.
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Still, it was an early sign the pair were on the same page.
Positive crowd reaction
Alexander-Arnold drew a bit of a sticky reaction from Liverpool fans in his last few games with the club, punctuated by the crowd booing him during a substitute appearance against Arsenal.
Madrid fans cheered the 26-year-old when a video flashed on the stadium jumbotron pregame: not as loud as the cheers for Bellingham or Vinicius, but loud. He was then loudly applauded when he recorded his first touch in the second minute.