Liverpool are unequivocally the best team in the Premier League right now, having just carved up fellow Champions League side Aston Villa 2-0 behind another inspired performance from the league’s best player, Mohamed Salah.
The Reds have been a juggernaut this season under Arne Slot, and you could argue that only the Hansi Flick-led La Liga leaders Barcelona have been more impressive in all of European football.
Yes, Liverpool have been even better than La Liga’s second-best team, Real Madrid, because Los Blancos really haven’t been very good at all this season, even after signing Kylian Mbappe and Endrick.
Real Madrid have had trouble integrating their new stars, with Mbappe earning widespread criticism for a horrendous performance against Barcelona in what amounted to a 4-0 blowout loss to the Blaugrana.
As much as Mbappe has become the center of attention for failing to impress thus far, Real’s biggest issues lie in the defense, which was further decimated on Saturday after Eder Militao suffered a torn ACL (in his other knee) for a second straight season.
With David Alaba still recovering, that leaves Antonio Rudiger as the only healthy senior center back on the team. And with Dani Carvajal also out for the season with his own torn ACL, Real Madrid don’t have a single, sure-fire starter on their back line besides Rudiger (Ferland Mendy at left back is merely the best of two bad options).
So when Real Madrid face Liverpool in the return of the Champions League on Nov. 27 after the international fixtures, Relevo’s Rodra P expects the Merengue back line to have Rudiger and Castilla standout Raul Asencio in the middle with Mendy and Fede Valverde at right back flanking them. (Fede is starting at right back, because Lucas Vazquez suffered a multi-week injury against Osasuna, too.)
Liverpool have to be licking their chops, and while Mohamed Salah is always a great candidate to have a massive game – and he always has extra motivation against Real Madrid – the world-class right winger isn’t actually the biggest threat to the Merengue defense.
Salah will have a great game, but left winger Luis Diaz looks like the real star to watch at the end of November. We’ve seen Fede succeed at right back against Liverpool in the Champions League in the past, doing so during the 2020/21 quarterfinals.
However, that Liverpool team is very different to this Liverpool team, and 2024/25 Luis Diaz is an even more dynamic threat than 2020/21 Sadio Mane, who was nearing his decline phase.
Diaz has been arguably the best left winger in the world this season, and he’s honestly been just as good as Vinicius Junior this season. He has returned to top form under Slot, scoring five goals with two assists in the league.
Fede is a great athlete who works hard and is an intelligent footballer, but even though he is capable of starting at right back, that doesn’t mean he’s good enough to equip with a red-hot Diaz.
The Colombian international is going to tear Real Madrid to shreds, just as Rafael Leao did in Real’s last Champions League, a 3-1 humiliation to an underwhelming AC Milan side.
If that’s Real’s record against Milan, then Liverpool have to feel great about their chances of putting up three more goals on a defense that looks like the worst of any top club in the Champions League.
