A vision of an alternative future turns into a brush with history. Xabi Alonso said he didn’t want to come to Liverpool as tourists and his Bayer Leverkusen certainly leave without any mementoes. Not a point. Not a goal. Not their pride. Not any hold on Luis Diaz, either, who hit a hat-trick. Leverkusen didn’t even see that much of the ball, as Liverpool translated almost 60 per cent possession into a comprehensive 4-0 win.
For all the inevitable focus on a former Liverpool Champions League winner who knew how to play a pass – and suffered a reckoning here – wins like this are maybe the moment when it’s worth going further back into the club’s European past. There is a genuinely noteworthy reference that comes from the last time Liverpool saw a charismatic figurehead replaced by a more placid character.
