After a summer spent mulling over the unfortunate end to Liverpool's unprecedented quest for quadruple glory last campaign, which culminated in missing out on the Premier League and Champions League titles by the narrowest of margins, the joy was quickly restored by manager Jurgen Klopp on Saturday evening at the King Power stadium.
Three customary first pumps were unleashed by the Reds boss and he treasured every second he spent celebrating with the travelling Kop as he watched his side pick up their maiden honour of the new campaign, which bodes to be just as compelling as the record-breaking feats of the last.
Klopp's squad entered something of a new era during the off-season as they waved goodbye to the long-serving and reliable figure which was Sadio Mane, who departed Anfield after six trophy-laden years to join Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich for a deal which could rise to £35m if performance-related add-ons are met during his time in Bavaria, and replaced him with Darwin Nunez. A player seven years his junior, who joined for a mouth-watering initial £64m outlay last month after two stellar campaigns with Benfica.
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Despite being made to watch the first hour of the contest from the bench in the Midlands on Saturday, the Uruguayan certainly wasted no time in impressing Liverpool supporters who flocked to the King Power to catch a first glimpse of the 23-year-old forward, who provided Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake with a torrid final 30 minutes.
His willingness to run in behind and stretch defences, coupled with his natural 'No.9' positional play saw both of the Citizens' central defenders forced to adopt a sixth sense in order to keep tabs on the whereabouts of the former Primeira Liga star. And just 24 minutes after making his first 'competitive' outing for the Reds, Nunez had already won his side a penalty after his goal-bound header was blocked illegally by the outstretched arm of Dias.
Eleven minutes after the Reds' new No.27 provided Mohamed Salah with the opportunity to open his account for the new season with a spot-kick from twelve yards, Nunez was on hand to put the icing on the cake for Klopp's side as he was the first to react to Andy Robertson's knockdown from close-range with a traditional poacher's finish.
And as the German let off a triad of first pumps while captain Jordan Henderson performed his trademark shuffle upon the full-time whistle, the Liverpool manager will have been pleased with how his side were able to get back on track after a rocky period during the second half on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the addition of 23-year-old Uruguayan, Klopp opted to go with the tried-and-trusted Roberto Firmino against the Reds' Premier League foes, citing the decision not to start the mega-money summer addition as one that boiled down to craving the experience which is required in order to be successful against Pep Guardiola's side.
"The line-up we’ve chosen is used to each other and against an opponent like Manchester City it makes 100 per cent sense that everybody knows what to do," said the German while speaking to ITV before the game. "I would say Darwin [Nunez] is in a really good way and will come on definitely but for the start, we decided against it."
That experience was amplified by Klopp's starting XI ranking as the highest average-aged side in the club's history since 1953, albeit significantly spiked by the inclusion of stand-in goalkeeper Adrian due to injuries to Alisson Becker and Caoimhin Kelleher.
Of the eleven selected by Klopp for the first contest of the season, nine of those played a part in ending Liverpool's 30-year wait for a Premier League title during the 2019/2020 season. With only Thiago Alcantara and Luis Diaz not plying their trade at Anfield during the record-breaking campaign.
Additionally, a further eight of those were part of the squad that claimed the club's sixth European Cup and accumulated 97 points in the Premier League during the 2018/19 season. And if you cast your mind even further back, seven of those given the nod by Klopp on Saturday afternoon were part of the side that reached the Reds' first Champions League final in eleven years as they suffered a cruel defeat to Real Madrid in Kyiv in May 2018.
It's from those experiences, good and bad, that Klopp has been able to increase the nous and know-how in his ranks during recent campaigns, highlighted by the six further honours the squad have successfully added to the 'Wall of Champions' since the heartbreak at the hands of Zinedine Zidane's side four years ago.
Despite the pre-season preparations of both sides contrasting - with City only playing tour game's during a tour of the United States, compared to the four played by Klopp's side in Bangkok, Singapore, Austria and Germany - the Reds started the game as the brighter of the two sides and caused havoc to Joao Cancelo down the right-hand side.
Though despite only having a slender one-goal advantage to show for their impressive first half of dominance, Klopp's men were forced to weather a brief storm during the early stages after the half-time interval as Julian Alvarez pulled his side level.
However, because of the experience Liverpool currently boast in their ranks they were able to ride the wave of adversity without panic, when Guardiola's men were fuelled by their second wind, before regrouping and firing themselves back into the lead less than ten minutes later. And as Liverpool gear to go one better than last season and succeed in their quest for Champions League or Premier League glory, it seems that Klopp has the perfect blend of youth and experience in his ranks.
Nunez hasn't been the only sub-26-year-old signing through the doors of Anfield in recent years, with Ibrahima Konate, 23, Diogo Jota, 25 and Fabio Carvalho, 19, joining the likes of Harvey Elliott, 19, Joe Gomez, 25, Luis Diaz, 25, and Curtis Jones, 21. Boasting a squad that is likely to compete on all fronts once again this campaign will instil the winning mentality and know-how into the younger members of the Reds' squad, a trait which was missing from the squad Klopp inherited in October 2015.
And with the mid-season intervention of the World Cup it's set to be another gruelling campaign for elite-level sides, but with the mix of youth and experience the Liverpool manager now has at his disposal he will be more than comfortable dipping into the realms of his squad as the Reds look to rewrite the history books once again.
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