Liverpool are 100% at the top Champions League after dumping title holders Real Madrid to an almost unbelievable 24th place the ranking of 36 teams on Wednesday.

No one was more embarrassed by Madrid’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the off-season by the legendary club who also became European champions against Liverpool in the 2022 and 2018 finals.

Mbappe had a penalty saved in the second half and was earlier dumped on his backside by Conor Bradley’s superb tackle in an instant viral moment.

Only Liverpool has started the new Champions League formula with five wins and the team of first-year coach Arne Slot is two points ahead of Inter Milan. Barcelona are third, three points behind Liverpool.

Remarkably, Madrid is only one place above elimination with three rounds to go. The top eight teams at the end of January will advance directly to the round of 16 in March, and teams seeded ninth through 24th will enter a two-stage round in February.

“(This) doesn’t change much because even with a win it would be difficult to secure a place in the top eight,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “It was a fair result.”

Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, giving up a lead by playing with 10 men from the 58th minute in a 3–2 defeat at home to Benfica. Swiss forward Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th.

Borussia Dortmund, the defeated finalist against Madrid in May, rises to fourth place after a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb. Champions League great Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, opening the scoring in Croatia in the 41st.

The best comeback came at PSV Eindhoven, where the home side fell two goals behind Shakhtar Donetsk in the 87th minute before a 3-2 win was sealed by American striker Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep into stoppage time.

American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored one embarrassing own goal for Celtic – with a no-look pass far past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel – in a 1-1 draw against Club Brugge.

“One of those things,” Schmeichel said. “Cam is being put under pressure and he didn’t hear me shouting that I’m not in the goal.”

Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed with victories for Lille and Red Star Belgrade.

Mukau scored twice in Lille’s 2-1 win over twelfth-placed Bologna and Silas leveled for Red Star in a 5-1 defeat to Stuttgart, although he barely celebrated his goal. Silas is loaned to the Serbian champions from Stuttgart.

Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw against Juventus was preserved by a excellent save from Emiliano MartinezArgentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper, dives low to push away Francisco Conceição’s header.

Bradley beats Mbappe

Liverpool’s stand-in right-back Bradley was a standout on Wednesday, breaking Mbappe at speed in a trademark defensive play in the 32nd.

The 21-year-old Northern Irish defender, replacing the fit Trent Alexander-Arnold, joined the attack in the 52nd and played a key pass, returning the ball to Alexis Mac Allister, who scored the opening goal.

After Mbappé’s penalty in the 61st was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed with his penalty in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win with a header in the 77th.

Madrid have now lost three of five games after defeats at Lille and at home to AC Milan. Europe’s record 15-time champions have another tough trip next, taking on fifth-place Atalanta on December 10. On the same date, Liverpool are in 30th place in Girona and appear to be on their way to the round of 16.

“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times,” Liverpool coach Slot said of Madrid. “They were also a sore point for Liverpool for years.”

First wins, first points

Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended four-match losing runs to take their first points and wins.

Red Star rallied against Stuttgart after the German team took the lead in the fifth minute. The 1991 European Cup winner’s goal to level the match in the 12th was scored by on-loan Silas. He held up his hands as if in apology, part of a quiet celebration.

Sturm Graz won 1-0 against Girona, the Spanish newcomer in the European competitions. It was the Austrian champions’ first Champions League match since then coach Christian Ilzer left to join Hoffenheim.

___

AP football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer