Published: 22:48, 30 October 2025 | Updated: 22:48, 30 October 2025

Xabi Alonso has apparently copied a tactic regularly used by Jose Mourinho in a bid to get the better of Liverpool in the Champions League.

Madrid will take on the Reds in Europe's premier competition next week in the fourth round of Champions League matches in what is a repeat of the clash between the two sides at Anfield last season.

On that occasion, Liverpool were comfortable winners, with Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo netting for Arne Slot's side as they continued their charge to become league phase winners.

This season, though, things have been tougher for the Premier League champions. They have lost six of their last seven matches, including four in a row in the Premier League, and are extremely short on confidence.

The opposite can be said for Madrid. They are flying high in their domestic league, top of the table and already five points clear of arch rivals Barcelona on the back of a feisty El Clasico at the weekend.

Alonso, who played under Mourinho at Madrid throughout...