Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as Diaz hat-trick gives Reds easy win
Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen: The Reds are top of the Champions League after a rout at Anfield
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Your support makes all the difference.Liverpool moved to the top of the Champions League table and kept their European winning streak going with a fine outing against Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield.
Xabi Alonso’s German champions were solid and secure in a tentative first half that lacked quality in front of goal. Luis Diaz found the goalkeeper’s gloves and Jeremie Frimpong had a goal ruled out for offside as the teams traded blows.
The second half was all Liverpool. Three goals, two for Diaz and one for Cody Gakpo ensured they left the field with three points and another notch to Arne Slot’s reputation. Diaz’s first was made by Curtis Jones who slipped a fine pass into the box before Diaz chipped the goalkeeper to open the scoring.
Mo Salah then set up the second with a cross to Gakpo who headed home a few minutes later. That broke Leverkusen’s resistance and the Reds added a late third as Salah found Diaz for his second of the night.
Diaz wasn’t done though. With three minutes of added time, Liverpool countered and Darwin Nunez set Diaz up to complete his hat-trick.
Relive the Champions League action with our live blog below:
Liverpool vs Leverkusen
Here come the teams.
The players make their way out onto the pitch at Anfield. Virgil van Dijk leads out the Reds with a determined look on his face. He knows this will be a battle but one that Liverpool can win.
Kick off is up next...
Alonso’s return
Xabi Alonso played 210 times during a five-year spell at Liverpool from 2004 to 2009. He scored 19 goals for the club, including one in the 2005 Champions League final win against AC Milan.
This is Alonso’s first time back at Anfield for a competitive fixture. His Leverkusen side have not lost in their last 32 matches as the away team, winning 24 and drawing eight.
Unbeaten champions
Bayer Leverkusen have totalled seven points in their first three matches of the league phase, with wins over Feyenoord and AC Milan followed by a draw with Brest.
Last season, Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time in their history and in doing so became the first team ever to go through the league campaign unbeaten.
Fortress Anfield
Liverpool have scored 32 goals in their last 12 European games at Anfield, with only Atalanta – who kept a clean sheet – preventing them from scoring at least twice.
Szoboszlai vs Leverkusen
Dominik Szoboszlai scored a winning goal for RB Leipzig against Leverkusen in an April 2022 Bundesliga clash.
Salah vs Leverkusen
Mo Salah scored for Roma against Bayer Leverkusen in the group phase of the Champions League in 2015-16, in his side’s 3-2 win. Can he score against them again tonight?
Salah nearing half-century
Mohamed Salah has scored 49 Champions League goals in his career, including qualifiers, with 43 coming while at the Reds. Only 10 players have previously reached 50 goals in the competition.
Mohamed Salah shows his evolution to keep Liverpool on title track
At the ripe old age of 32, Mohamed Salah cannot give defenders a headache for 90 minutes like he used to, nor will the numbers continue to be as otherworldly as they once were. What these once-in-a-lifetime talents can do, however, is conjure season-defining moments, when his team needs them most.
For large swathes of Saturday’s gripping clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, the visitors were head and shoulders above their opponents, making Liverpool look foolish as they chased shadows in the first half.
Mohamed Salah shows his evolution to keep Liverpool on title track
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton: The 2024 version of Salah may not be as consistently dominant as in the past but he can still deliver big moments
Four in a row?
A victory in this tie would see Liverpool win each of their opening four matches of a European campaign for only the sixth time.
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