Fans of Liverpool mocked Trent Alexander-Arnold after his debut for Real Madrid, enjoyed the difficult outing of their former star after his bitter exit.
The scouser waved goodbye to his boy's club at the end of the season, after he only recently put an end to a year-long speculation about his future when his Anfield contract ended.
The Premier League champions succeeded in obtaining a fee of £ 10 million for the 26-year-old, but his departure still left a sour taste in the mouth of many. As a result, dozens of fans of Reds agreed to witness his first performance for Los Blancos, who came to Al-Hilal in their World Club Cup opener on Wednesday evening.
And they were not disappointed – especially in the first half – because the English star struggled to find his passing reach and was weak in the tackle.
“He thinks he has the chance to win the balloon d'Or,” wrote a fan on X, in reference to an interview from 2024 in which he stated that he was the first right back to win the prestigious prize.
Another referred to the comments of Alexander-Arnold about training with his new Madrid teammates this week, words that some have interpreted as thin-veiled excavations in his old Liverpool colleagues.
They wrote: “The ball is moving here so quickly.”
Responding to a post of a video that claimed to show all Alexander-Arnold errors against Al-Hilal, pointed to one user on X on a copy when the full-back was high on the field positioning that his side almost a goal cost.
“And here he is in a counterattack on him,” the user noticed, circling the position of Alexander-Arnold.
A fourth took the chance to wipe two of the right back options of the three lions, and said: 'Bro's worst then [Kyle] Walker. '
Fans of Liverpool on social media were not the only ones who were not satisfied with the first outing of Alexander-Arnold. Spanish outlet gave him an empty assessment. He was one of only three stars to get the treatment.
In their report they also stated that the LaLiga Giants did not pay any compensation to gain the defender early, so that he can take his time to adapt to his new environment.
On Wednesday, in his 65 minutes on the field, the Englishman won only 25 percent of his ground matches and lost 12 times.
Alexander-Arnold, however, showed his quality by giving most passes in the last third part (12), where he shows some improvement after the interval.
After the game he insisted that he knows that he 'made the right decision' to join Real Madrid after making his debut.
'It's the first time I have moved clubs, so I didn't know what to expect. I had no expectations in this, “Alexander-Arnold told Mail Sport.
“It's a big change and it's different, but I love every minute and in my mind and my heart, I know I have made the right decision for me.”
The game started at 3 p.m. local time in circumstances that were far from ideal for football, with temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and high levels of humidity.
'Yes, I found it very challenging (in that heat). It is very different from England, “Alexander-Arnold admitted.
“But it was a very proud moment for me. I am very happy that I made my debut. It is something that most, if not all players, in their lives of dreams. I am incredibly proud of the performance, but of course there is some disappointment (with the result) with the mentality that comes as a Madrid player.
“You want and expect to win every game, but of course, new coach, some new players and new ideas are some positive points to get from there, especially in the second half and the foundation was built to win the next game now,” the 26-year-old added.