'So comfortable' - Rafa Benitez blown away by three Liverpool stars as Arne Slot agrees

Rafa Benitez believes that Liverpool’s midfield trio were key to their victory over Real Madrid.

The Reds delivered a dominant display to beat the Spanish giants 2-0 in the Champions League earlier this week. Arne Slot’s side were on the front foot from the outset and got their rewards in the second half with Alexis Mac Allister opening the scoring before Cody Gakpo came off the bench to seal the win.

Liverpool have earned 17 victories in 19 games since Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout. Their latest scalp was the biggest of the Dutchman’s tenure so far, with the current European Cup holders humbled on Merseyside.

Benitez was in the stands to watch two of his former clubs do battle. The Spaniard remains revered by Reds fans for engineering the club’s 2005 Champions League triumph. He was working as a match observer for UEFA and picked the bones out of the encounter - and came to the verdict that Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones who made up Liverpool’s engine room were pivotal.

“The main difference were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes, and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” said Benitez. "He [Mac Allister] was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half. Jones took up good positions and made runs in behind. He [Gravenberch] was difficult for Real Madrid to control. He is so comfortable on the ball.”

The triumvirate are likely to keep their respective spots for Liverpool’s seismic showdown against Manchester City at Anfield tomorrow (4pm GMT). The Reds currently sit eight points above Pep Guardiola’s champions in the table - and that will stretch to 11 should the home side prevail.

Slot was also impressive with the performance of Jones against Madrid, having returned to the starting XI when replacing Dominik Szoboszlai. The Liverpool boss also heaped praise on fellow academy products Caoimhin Kelleher, who saved a penalty from Kylian Mbappe when the game was at 1-0, and Conor Bradley.

“I think it’s nice for him [Bradley], nice for his family, nice for us but it’s also very nice for the academy, that a player that comes through the ranks at the academy does so well. And not only him – Caoimh was outstanding today, Curtis was outstanding today. Probably all of them were outstanding but to have three academy players in your team doing so well is also a big compliment for the academy this club has.”