Conor Bradley praised by Thierry Henry after what he did to Kylian Mbappe

Thierry Henry has praised Conor Bradley for denying Kylian Mbappe in Liverpool's impressive win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

Liverpool recorded their first win against Real since 2009 on a gritty night at Anfield in the Champions League. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring with a neat finish before Mbappe and Mohamed Salah both failed to score from the penalty spot.

Salah's miss from 12 yards did not cost the Reds, who claimed a 2-0 victory thanks to Cody Gakpo's header from a short corner. There were many brilliant performances from the home side, but Bradley's efforts at right-back caught the attention of many – and one moment stood out above all others.

Mbappe looked to be racing through on goal at the break in the first half, having beaten Mac Allister for his speed, but Bradley had other ideas. Bradley raced across at full speed and launched a perfectly timed slide tackle to dispossess the French star and earn a huge roar from the Anfield crowd.

It was a moment that summed up his performance against Mbappe, who was shackled and failed to provide the spark Real so desperately needed. “That [tackle] for me it has already set the tone,” Henry said on CBS Sports. “Boom! That's it. You all know you were a centre-back, right-back or whatever. If you meet someone like that at the start of the match, you're going to have a hard time.

“We see him making that run [forwards]every time – he was looking forward to it. You could see he was imagining himself against Mbappe. Everything he did was perfect. We waited for Salah, we waited for Mbappe, but we saw Conor Bradley, so fair to him.”

Henry added: “Conor Bradley was just outstanding. I don't think he had to do much defensively because Mbappe didn't do much offensively. So it became very easy.

“But the positions he's in now and what he can do and how he understands when to make that run… The assist (for Mac Allister's goal) wasn't Trent [Alexander-Arnold] help, in all honesty, but still he is where he needs to be.

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy was also impressed by Bradley, who was forced off late with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Analyzing Mbappe's tackle from the BBC's Champions League highlights, he said: “That was probably the biggest roar of the night. It's about the athleticism and timing and also the courage to do it. There is no respect. The ball must win. It doesn't matter who you are.”

He added: “When you see a young player play in perhaps his biggest match against one of the best players in Europe at such a big event, in a pressure atmosphere, and perform like that, it is truly incredible. I think he has a great future. “I know there's a lot of talk about Trent at the moment, but what a player he is to come in and fill the gaps for him.”