Steve McManaman: Real would be better with JOSELU up front rather than Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe performed worse against Liverpool than the discarded 34-year-old Joselu would have, Steve McManaman claimed during Real Madrid's 2-0 defeat at Anfield.

It was a tough night for the galactico, who missed a penalty and was rated 4/10 in Mail Sport's player ratings after being 'bullied' on the left wing by Conor Bradley.

Liverpool recorded their first win over Real Madrid since 2009 on Wednesday evening, with the victory coming courtesy of second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo.

Mbappe's nine-goal return since his release from PSG this summer is nothing to scoff at, but he has been criticized as Madrid's bot. They are 24th in the Champions League and a respectable second in LaLiga, but were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona in October.

Former Madrid star McManaman suggested they were missing crafty veteran striker Joselu, who scored 17 goals last season but was let go, and that Mbappe did not feature due to the absence of injured Ballon d'Or runner-up Vinicius Junior.

“They needed him tonight. Without Vinicius, without some other stars, he flattered himself tonight to deceive. That was his moment (the penalty),” McManaman told TNT Sports.

'The press will be ruthless about Kylian because he didn't deliver again when he needed to. Madrid is going through a difficult period and the big players are not playing well.

“It just magnifies it. Vinicius is not there. Will Kylian perform tonight? No, he doesn't.'

When Carlo Ancelotti brought on teenage striker Endrick, who had been struggling for minutes, in the second half, McManaman wondered whether Mbappe could shoulder the goal-scoring burden.

“He gets very frustrated because he (Endrick) wants to play more. They have enough centre-forwards but he (Ancelotti) doesn't want to use them at the moment,” McManaman said.

'They need a centre-forward tonight. Kylian is not a number nine – he may have it on his back, but he is not a top scorer in those positions, right? He likes to play wide. They might as well have kept Joselu.”

Joselu was an unexpected star at the Santiago Bernabeu, brought in as a backup after Karim Benzema left for the riches of Saudi Arabia. He also produced in big moments; few Madrid fans will forget his two late goals against Bayern Munich that sent them to the Champions League final.

As for Mbappe, he faced a defense that has allowed just eight goals in the Premier League and one in Europe, but conceded twice against Southampton this weekend.

None of Madrid's attacking stars threatened much at Anfield and Jude Bellingham was keen to defend his under-fire teammate.

He told TNT Sports: 'It's a big moment in the match (the penalty miss), but it can happen. He's a great player, but because of how good he is, the pressure he applies is enormous.

'The penalty is not the reason why we lost the match. As a collective we weren't good enough that night. Kylian can hold his head high and I'm sure he will create many more moments that are huge for this club.”

Jurgen Klopp could never beat Madrid, not in six attempts at the Reds, but Slot managed it the first time he asked. Slot has now won 17 of his 19 matches.

Despite Madrid's perceived toothlessness, Rio Ferdinand was keen to shift the focus to Liverpool's excellence on a memorable night – and dubbed them 'Rottweilers'.

'They have laid down the gauntlet for all other teams in Europe. They seem to be the best team in Europe at the moment. They play as a team and look like the hungriest people around,” he told TNT Sports.

'Not only are they getting results, they look starved. They look like they haven't been fed for ages, Rottweilers run down past the hunting teams. They have the composure and the likes of Mo Salah have the killer instinct to finish games.