It was always a mouth-watering tie when first drawn, former LFC midfielder Xabi Alonso returning to Anfield with his thrilling Bundesliga champions.
For large parts of this encounter, set against the backdrop of a noisy Bonfire Night in the UK, the game seemed a relatively dull affair between two teams who seem certain to progress to the next stage.
If anything, Leverkusen had the much better control of the first half with the reds showing off another anaemic, if defensively sound, first half performance.
But like so many times under our new Dutch coach, the reds exploded into life in the second half.
Luis Diaz scored a sensational hat-trick as he seems determind to get his place back in the regular starting XI. Cody Gakpo added another goal to his excellent season as he also more than fills in for the injured Diogo Jota.
Diaz' opener was arrived on the hour mark after a great pass from Curtis Jones. VAR made Cody Gakpo wait for the second after he was initially adjudged offside when he put away Salah's cross. He wasn't offside and his post-VAR celebration was a big one - I think he knew he had put the game beyond the German side.
With less than ten minutes left, Diaz added his second and then he completed the hat-trick in injury time as he reacted quickest to a Darwin Nunez shot that had been blocked in the area.
Liverpool and now top of the Champions League and the Premier League. Arne Slot's first 16 games have returned 14 victories and just the one defeat.
An astonishing start and one that will hopefully carry momentum in to this busy period of the season.
MOTM: Luis Diaz
Video Highlights: Liverpool 4-0 Leverkusen
