Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen: Luis Diaz hat-trick leads Reds to victory over Xabi Alonso's team at Anfield

Liverpool continued their flawless run in the Champions League with an impressive 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield. Luis Diaz stole the show with a stunning hat-trick in the second half, propelling the Reds to the top of the table.

Arne Slot's side had found Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions to be awkward opponents in the first half but the fireworks came from Liverpool after the hour mark with two beautiful goals in quick succession through Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo.

Diaz's first, a dinked finish, came after Curtis Jones sprung the offside trap, unlocking Leverkusen's defence, and the Reds soon did it again even if the assistant missed it - a VAR check was needed to spot Gakpo was onside from Mohamed Salah's cross.

Diaz added two more to inflict only the third defeat in two seasons for Alonso's team on his first competitive return to Anfield since departing in 2009. He was the standout coach last season. With 14 wins from 16 now, Slot is making his own case this year.

Analysis: Leverkusen cannot cope with Anfield factor

Liverpool did it again, finding two goals in a flash to transform the mood of the match and take the game away from a Leverkusen side that must have fancied their chances of picking up a famous win. They are not the first to think that only to be overwhelmed.

Brighton had believed they were on course for victory at the weekend before succumbing to two quick goals. Only a lengthy delay for a VAR check provided the respite for Leverkusen between Diaz's clever finish and Gakpo's thumping header.

Alonso knows this atmosphere well, of course, and seemed to sense it coming just moments before the breakthrough goal - holding onto the ball to prevent Trent Alexander-Arnold taking a throw-in before gesticulating to his players to calm down.

Remarkably, in a sport now micro-managed by coach-tacticians, momentum still finds a way deciding high-level matches like an uncontrollable force. Slot has made Liverpool a little more measured. But this quality is still in the game. At Anfield, it always will be.

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