Liverpool welcomed a club legend back to Anfield as Xabi Alonso returned to Merseyside for Champions League action.
Caoimhin Kelleher has fond memories of Alonso, who brought his Bayer Leverkusen side to Anfield for the European clash with Liverpool.
But Alonso and Reds boss Arne Slot did their best to avoid any distraction, with both managers having undoubtedly been chasing all three points.
Alonso was excited to return to Anfield, but he was brought crashing back down to earth with a 4-0 thrashing.
After an intriguing first-half battle ended 0-0, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo scored within two minutes of each other, with the Colombian netting twice late on to complete his hat-trick.
Steven Gerrard reacts as Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia reunite
Before the game, however, Alonso was reunited with another club legend in Luis Garcia, with the Liverpool Instagram account sharing footage of the duo embracing in the tunnel, writing the caption: “Familiar faces back at Anfield.”
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Yet another Anfield legend in Steven Gerrard then shared the video on his Instagram story, reacting with the star eyes and heart emojis.
Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo help Liverpool beat Bayer Leverkusen
Unsurprisingly, the former midfield icon dominated the spotlight before the game, with Garcia having reacted to footage of Alonso in action in the build-up.
The latter was then given a warm reception before kick-off, but all sentiment went out the window as the game got underway.
Chances were, however, few and far between in the opening 45 minutes of the match, which saw joint-top Liverpool host sixth-place Bayer Leverkusen.
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The second half was also slow to get going, but Diaz finally brought the game to life with a sublime goal in the 61st minute.
He was threaded through with an equally sublime pass from Curtis Jones, with the duo having both been brought back into the starting XI by Slot for the clash with Leverkusen.
Gakpo then headed home a second just moments later, guiding the ball into the net from a superb Mohamed Salah cross, with Diaz scoring two more to complete a superb hat-trick.
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