Liverpool coach Arne Slot outdoes Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso at Anfield

He did walk towards the Kop to wave to the Liverpool fans who still adore him after applauding his own supporters, but this was a sobering evening for Alonso, one on which the home fans were not surprised , what could have been, but rather revel in what they have under slot.

Alonso tried to impart local knowledge to his players, constantly gesturing with his palms flat to the ground to encourage calm and composure. That worked quite well in a grueling first half, but lost its impact as Liverpool raged after breaking Bayer Leverkusen's resistance.

Slot got off to an excellent start in Liverpool. His almost unnoticed approach was reflected in his polite shouts of celebration after the final whistle, in sharp contrast to the fist-swinging antics and wild vivacity of the man who walked before him.

If Slot has a problem to sort out, it might be that he should give his half-time speech to the team before kick-off, with Liverpool often being a slow starter given their stellar record this season.

Liverpool put themselves in a difficult position when they trailed Brighton at half-time at Anfield on Saturday and then won 2-1. Once again it seemed listless and lifeless until the decisive spark came from Diaz's godfather breaker after 61 minutes.

In all competitions this season, Liverpool have scored 22 goals in the second half compared to 15 in the first, with 147 shots in the second half (including 66 on target) compared to 97 (and 44 on target) in the first half gave.

Liverpool followed the same pattern here as Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky remained unmolested for 45 minutes before suddenly coming under pressure and scoring four goals in the second half.

Slot said: “I don’t know if it was so much the intensity, but we took more risks. They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adapted and took the risk of playing one-on-one. And sometimes you have that.” to give credit to the opposition.

“I would like to see that from the start, but then the other team usually has intensity too. What I like is that until now we continue to produce this energy and keep moving into higher gear. We would like to start like this from the beginning, but.” “As I said, we have to give credit to the opponent.”

Alonso was certainly in the mood to pay tribute to Liverpool, saying: “It's still early to say, but I see Liverpool have a very good balance and a very complete squad.”

“They work with the 11 players and have the strength to keep clean sheets, which is important in the Champions League. Let's see in the Premier League. It’s early to tell, but things are looking good for them.”

“The result is painful. The performance is more painful. We lacked a bit of strength and consistency. Defeat, accept it, congratulate Liverpool and move on. I will try to separate the pain of the outcome from the feelings of coming back and having love. I am really grateful for this reception.”

Few could have a smoother transition than Slot, and no Liverpool fan craves the opportunities Alonso offers more.

However, Slot disagrees that things were easy, saying, “Not at all. If you just look at the results, Brighton was a difficult game, we were 1-0 down and had to fight really hard. We have to play hard and work at really high intensity.

“Anfield is the best place to play, so every team that comes here is at its best. If we can continue to show high intensity, we will continue to win and that’s what we want.”

And Slot's Liverpool continues to give its fans exactly what they want.