• Liverpool make it four wins from four in the Champions League
  • Luis Diaz scores three and Cody Gakpo gets the other
  • Xabi Alonso's return to Anfield ends in disappointment

Liverpool extended their perfect start in the Champions League as they claimed a 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield.

Former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso was given a warm welcome on his return in the opposition dugout, but his side were shown no mercy.

After a cagey opening 45 minutes, the hosts ran away with things in the second, Luis Diaz grabbing a hat-trick while Cody Gakpo also netted.

How the game unfolded

The game looked set to be a thriller on the basis of the early action, with Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones both getting weak shots away after Liverpool had easily entered the Leverkusen box.

The visitors then produced a response, Victor Boniface driving into the side-netting before Jeremie Frimpong went down under pressure claiming a penalty.

However, the thrills quickly gave way to a cagey tactical battle that saw few opportunities of any real quality for much of the remainder of the half.

And that pattern was only broken when Frimpong drove home a strike that was disallowed for handball in the build-up before Gakpo again tested Lukas Hradecky with the last action of the half.

The second half started in much the same fashion until, just before the hour mark, Ryan Gravenberch slalomed through the Leverkusen midfield to tee up Mohamed Salah for a horribly miscued effort.

But that chance only seemed to energise Liverpool, who began ramping up the pressure before breaking the deadlock as Jones played a beautifully weighted pass through for Diaz to impudently dink over Hradecky.

That saw the Anfield atmosphere go into overdrive and, as had been the case against Brighton on Saturday, the Reds capitalised by quickly grabbing a second.

Gakpo was made to wait to celebrate after heading home Salah's first-time cross from the right-hand side, but a VAR check eventually confirmed that he had not strayed offside.

Liverpool were unfortunate not to add another when Trent Alexander-Arnold drove just over after Leverkusen had desperately cleared to the edge of the box shortly after.

But they eventually did get their third, Diaz turning home another from close range after Salah's cross had dropped to him inside the box.

In fact, there was still time for a fourth, which saw Diaz seal his hat-trick after the ball had fallen somewhat fortuitously in the box.