Luis Diaz shines in false nine role as Bayer Leverkusen are swept away | OneFootball

Liverpool maintained their perfect start in the Champions League with a resounding 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield this evening.

On paper, this should have been a formidable test for Arne Slot’s men, but they passed with flying colours against last season’s unbeaten Bundesliga champions. There were several changes from the lineup over the weekend, most notably with Luis Díaz starting in a ‘false nine’ role, flanked by Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.

A goalless first half suggested that Slot may have been overthinking his tactics, but like ketchup, the goals soon began to flow after the break, with Díaz scoring a hat trick and Gakpo also finding the back of the net. This was not the warmest of returns for Xabi Alonso, one of the architects of Liverpool’s fifth European Cup success, as Bayer failed to fire on all cylinders, which had characterised their historic 2023/24 campaign.

The German team featured many familiar names and had several chances but struggled with poor finishing. Victor Boniface, Jeremie Frimpong, and Florian Wirtz all had two or more shots on goal, but only one of their combined seven efforts was on target.

It was left to Liverpool’s attack to show their visitors the definition of efficiency. Díaz registered four shots on goal, with three on target, scoring with each strike. As a result, he became the only Colombian player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League, following in the footsteps of Faustino Asprilla, who famously netted three goals against Barcelona for Newcastle in September 1987.

Remarkably, his opening effort was his first goal in the Champions League at Anfield, while Gakpo scored his first-ever goal in the competition for Liverpool in his sixth appearance.

You can’t blame Slot for having a big smile on his face, as Liverpool has won all four of their Champions League games under his leadership. This achievement marks only the second time in club history that they have won all four opening matches in a single season; the first instance was in 2021-22 under Jürgen Klopp, when they won their first seven.

This victory also ended Bayer Leverkusen’s five-match unbeaten streak in the UEFA Champions League and marked their first defeat by an English team since losing 5-0 to Manchester United in November 2013.

“I don’t know if it was that much to do with intensity but we took more risk. They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted a half-tine and took the risk to play one v one all over. We had better chances in the first half and they weren’t a goal threat,” Slot told Amazon Prime afterwards.

“As much as this time, how good they are in Europe, sometimes a strong target man is better than someone a bit faster. Curtis Jones did an incredible pass and then you have someone with the pace of Lucho to finish it off. The pass was as good as the goal in my opinion.

“You don’t look ahead as a manager at the next three months. You’re always one game at a time. We’ve got Aston Villa on Saturday, another tough game.”

*Using Bookmaker/Affiliate links on squawka.com may earn us a commission, at no additional cost to you. 18+ only. T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly. For more information, visit gambleaware.org.