After experiencing one of his worst nights as Liverpool manager in Naples last month, this 7-1 shellacking of Rangers might just constitute one of Jurgen Klopp's best. The Champions League has been his refuge this season.
It's now three straight European wins for the Reds since a "horrorshow" at Napoli condemned them to a 4-1 defeat on September 7. This was, by some distance, their most convincing yet. After steadying themselves with a narrow win over Ajax at Anfield, back-to-back victories over Rangers now puts them on the cusp of qualification to the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition once more.
If a 14-point deficit to league leaders Arsenal already has Klopp being forced to concede that his team are not in the title race on domestic shores, their trials and tribulations in Europe at least mean that something is likely to be stirring in the second half of the campaign next year.
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A place in the last 16 is something perhaps previously taken for granted for a Liverpool squad who have reached the European Cup final three times since 2018, but right now such an achievement should not be sniffed at. It keeps alive hope and gives supporters something tangible to cling to as this increasingly mystifying campaign soldiers on for a confidence-shot, injury-hit Reds.
Now up to nine points in Group A courtesy of a remarkable win here in Glasgow that owed so much to a fantastic second half, Klopp's side need just a point from their visit to Ajax later this month to secure their place.
Ibrox, as expected, was white hot for Liverpool's first-ever competitive game here and Klopp made six changes ahead of Sunday's visit to Anfield from Manchester City, opting to rest Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Thiago Alcantara for Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho and Fabinho. Roberto Firmino also started as the manager named Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate in place of the injured duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip.
After a fairly tepid opening 15 minutes or so, Rangers took the lead when Scott Arfield was given too much room through the centre of Liverpool's defence. The midfielder slotted past Alisson to send Ibrox shaking to its foundations.
The Reds' response came before the half-hour mark when Firmino continued his hot streak in front of goal by heading home Kostas Tsimikas's corner.
Whatever Klopp said at half time, he might want to repeat this weekend. Liverpool started the second half in much brighter fashion and Firmino had his second of the evening when he side-footed home Gomez's inviting low cross after 55 minutes. It's now eight goals this campaign for the Brazilian and his importance to the cause is only growing at present during this particularly difficult period where so many others are out of form or injured.
Firmino, who was replaced by Diogo Jota for the final 20 minutes, saved perhaps his best party piece for an assist however when his audacious back-heel into the path of Darwin Nunez was dispatched for 3-1 on 66 minutes. It was the Uruguayan's last act, replaced by Mohamed Salah as Klopp also sent on Andy Robertson and Thiago Alcantara for Tsimikas and Henderson.
At a time when some might have expected Firmino's influence to wane further given the attacking reconfiguration in a calendar year that has involved the signings of Luis Diaz and Nunez as well and the sale of Sadio Mane, the former Hoffenheim man is as vital as ever just now it seems.
Quite what that says about a Liverpool squad who are becoming increasingly reliant on the performances of a 31-year-old signed over seven years ago is another topic entirely, but while he's in this sort of form, the subject of a contract extension should at least be broached. Either way, the Firmino renaissance goes on.
After being denied by Allan McGregor moments after coming on, Salah made amends shortly after with Liverpool's fourth. It was the cue for scores of Rangers fans to hit the exit doors. They were leaving in even greater numbers when the Egyptian grabbed his second and the Reds' fifth moments later with a poked effort from the edge of the box.
And by the time the No.11 had registered his third with a trademark cut-in from the right there was barely a soul left in the home ends. A six-minute-and-12-second hat-trick was the perfect riposte to the gentle nudge his 'resting' will have given to him. The fastest ever Champions League hat-trick, secured with just nine touches, is one way to dismiss the critics alright. Bring on Man City.
Elliott grabbed the goal that his second-half display deserved late on to put the gloss on the result after a lengthy VAR check for offside. It capped a fine 45 minutes for Liverpool as they gear up for Sunday's showdown.
It would have been easy for the Reds to have arrived in Glasgow feeling sorry for themselves having added three more injuries to their growing list of absentees in the form of Alexander-Arnold, Matip and Diaz after that 3-2 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday when Klopp and his team clearly felt a number of key decisions went against them.
But self-pity would have gotten them nowhere against a Rangers side who smelled blood and were desperate to 'get in their faces' and 'instil fear' according to Liverpool-born Gers midfielder John Lundstram.
That both Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Lundstram were asked a number of times about the importance of keeping 11 men on the pitch in Tuesday's press conference laid bare the kind of combative approach the Scots felt would be needed to land a glove on their Premier League visitors. It was one that only worked for 45 minutes.
The hope now is that this result - and second-half performance in particular - acts as the springboard towards the kind of consistent form one has come to expect from this group of players. It simply has to. It's all to play for again then? In the Champions League, at least.
This story was first published on October 12, 2022.
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