Liverpool's statement Real Madrid victory shows what Pep Guardiola can never have with Man City

Champions League group stage matches can be dull affairs at the best of times, with complacency thick in the air, but that was never going to be the case at Anfield on Wednesday night. The crispness of freezing weather conditions only added to the hostility for the visitors as Liverpool looked to maintain their 100 percent start to the revamped first round of the Champions League.

But the league table permutations of victory or defeat were not in the forefront of people's minds when the players took to the field amid a white hot atmosphere that would be more akin to a semi-final. Liverpool here had a score to settle.

When looking back through the storied history of Liverpool's adventures in Europe, up until six years ago, the rivalry with Real Madrid was almost a footnote. That is not to diminish in anyway Bob Paisley's historic European Cup Final triumph against Los Blancos at the Parc des Princes in 1981.

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The issue is more around the fact that despite holding 21 European Cup titles between them, until far more recently the two teams had barely played each other. In fact, you have to move forward 28 years from Alan Kennedy's Paris winner before the pair faced each other again.

A round of 16 encounter in 2009 showcased the best of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, as Liverpool followed up a 1-0 first leg away win to produce a stunning 4-0 victory at Anfield (in the same week that they beat Manchester United 4-1). Madrid would get the upper hand five years later when the candles were being blown out on Gerrard's Anfield career under Brendan Rodgers in the Group Stages. But five matches in 33 years - even if the first was a final - is hardly the basis of what you could regard as a fierce European rivalry.

That all changed for Liverpool in 2018.

Make no mistake, when Jurgen Klopp's team took on Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev, supporters and players alike were very confident of coming away with another European trophy dressed in red ribbons. But as we have discovered over the past few years, nothing is ever straight forward when taking on the masters of Europe from Spain.

The Reds' big night turned to disaster with a 3-1 defeat that left painful memories. It started with the first half withdrawal of Mohamed Salah after he was cynically taken down by the continent's king of 'housery' Sergio Ramos. A dislocated shoulder ended Salah's dream but there was a bigger nightmare to come with goalkeeper Loris Karius gifting two goals to the Spaniards with the type of errors that could see an Under 13s goalkeeper taken off by a despairing grassroots coach. And after spending a small fortune on a vastly over-priced flight just to get there, it was also a bitterly personal defeat for this writer.

A quarterfinal exit in 2021 provided further disappointment for Liverpool supporters, who were starting to wonder if the Madristas had an Indian sign over them. That was seemingly confirmed a year later when one of the best Liverpool teams ever assembled saw their unprecedented quadruple quest collapse at the final hurdle.

A sickening final day in the Premier League that saw Klopp's side have to settle for a runners up spot was made 10 times worse when Vinicius Jnr. scored the only goal of the game in a drab 2022 Champions League final, that was further overshadowed by organisation chaos outside the ground. A year later the team in white was at it again, dumping the Reds out of the same competition in the Round of 16, 6-2 on aggregate.

Since preparing to face Madrid in Kiev, the Spaniards have won three Champions League trophies, to hold a record 15 to their name overall. Liverpool supporters are rightly proud of their haul of six so there is some genuine resentment to another team who makes that record looked ordinary.

So when the chance came to stick a few noses out of joint on Wednesday evening, the satisfaction in doing so is off the scale. This was optimised best by the now legendary sight of Conor Bradley affording global superstar Kylian Mbappe zero respect as he perfectly executed the type of heart-thumping brave sliding tackle that I was pretty convinced had completely disappeared out of the game altogether.

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It was a moment so exhilarating that adrenaline surged around the stadium like an glowing optic cable. The Northern Irishman had set the tone for everyone to follow and the crowd lapped it up. From that point on there was only ever likely to be one winner, and thankfully on this occasion that meant Liverpool.

This was a statement performance that told us a few things. First, that there is life after Jurgen Klopp and also there is life after players who's contracts are seemingly coming to an end. Fans are rightly concerned that new deals for three of their biggest stars are yet to be agreed but those players won't be around forever and eventual exits will make way for emerging talent like Bradley.

But what this game also told us is that Liverpool has a true rivalry now with Real Madrid that is not based on mutual back-patting like the one witnessed between Klopp and Pep Guardiola but on what a real rivalry should be - a particular dislike of the opponent made worse by painful defeats and better by morale-boosting victories.

Despite dominating English football for the past decade, Manchester City can never have that level of rivalry with Liverpool. For starters their city neighbours are still far more despised on Merseyside and will continue to be the Reds' arch-rivals even though their star has fallen, just like Liverpool's did in the 90s.

When City visit Anfield on Sunday they can expect a hostile atmosphere and a buoyant home crowd that is determined to strengthen their team's grip at the top of the Premier League, but beating City will never be like beating Real Madrid or Manchester United. The United dislike may be steeped in decades of history, but the Los Blancos one is built on frustration and a grudging respect for a club that has an even better European record than Liverpool's own.

Beating Real Madrid was like winning a derby, but Arne Slot won't be getting too carried away. As the Dutchman bluntly admitted during his own post-match press conference, overcoming the holders in the knockout stages would mean significantly more and only serve to deepen the roots of this modern European rivalry further.