It was the hardest blow landed on Xabi Alonso since Nigel de Jong turned into Jackie Chan and kung-fu kicked him in the chest in the 2010 World Cup final. His German champions were not just beaten but embarrassed by the club which holds such a big place in his heart.

His homecoming started and ended well, with a respectful touch of the ‘This Is Anfield’ sign on arrival and a rousing rendition of his name by the Kop at full-time. But everything in between saw his Bayer Leverkusen team outclassed by Liverpool and Arne Slot.

Luis Diaz scored a second-half hat-trick after starting as a No 9, Mohamed Salah kept up his case for being not just the club’s greatest goalscorer but best creator – and Slot again showed why he – not fans’-desired choice Alonso – was the right man to replace Jurgen Klopp all along.

Yet despite all those talking points, the highlight came from Curtis Jones and an exquisite assist to kickstart Liverpool’s rout. It was one of those moments which separate world-class midfielders from the bog standard, with a vision that belies most of the stadium.

Sat up in the Main Stand or the Kop, 99 per cent of the ground would not have seen the pass was on. They would not try it, never mind pull it off. But if there was one man who would have spotted it, that would be the chap in the pristine white trainers in the away technical area.

Luis Diaz scored his first hat-trick for Liverpool to propel the home side to an emphatic win over Bayer Leverkusen

The Colombian opened the scoring with a delightful chip over Lukas Hradecky in the away goal

Cody Gakpo continued his fine form in front of goal with the Reds’ second after a devastating counter-attack

But as the game ticked towards the hour mark, the Anfield crowd took action and the cackling sound of fireworks on Bonfire Night going off around Merseyside was replaced by metaphoric explosions on the pitch.

Salah missed a big chance after fine work from Ryan Gravenberch to further entice the noise and, with the next attack, Jones threaded an eye-of-the-needle pass for Diaz to dink a shot over Lukas Hradecky on 61 minutes.

Diaz completed the scoring to see the home side maintain their perfect start to the campaign

The home side have now won 14 of their first 16 matches in all competitions this season

Arne Slot’s side sit top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League standings