IBROX — Never has a scoreline flattered a team so much. It appears, on first viewing, that Liverpool put a vastly inferior Rangers to the sword with a blistering performance at Ibrox, but the numbers only tell half the story.
Mo Salah has had his struggles this season, pulled out into a wider position than normal by Jurgen Klopp, a move that has not done his goal return much good.
But form is only temporary. Despite smashing seven past a bewildered Rangers, Liverpool were not at anything like their best until Salah entered the fray, with the Egyptian class above anyone at a stunned Ibrox. The fastest Champions League hat-trick in history could not have been better timed, with Manchester City up next.
Even the champions’ near-imperious unit must have been unsettled by the sight of the Egyptian back doing what he does best.
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With its red-brick façade that would not look out of place on Albert Dock, Ibrox is awe-inspiring from the outside, with the old school European Cup night feel resembling an LS Lowry painting under the lights.
The atmosphere inside did not disappoint, either. Expectations were low. “Just one goal will do” came the cry from the supporter next to the press box, before declaring, unprompted “there are no SNP in here”.
Another who does not mince his words is Klopp, who was especially bullish this week when asked about what is going wrong at Anfield.
Much of the debate has centred around advancing years of his squad – starters this season have a higher average age than at any point of the German’s tenure. He certainly will not admit it, but such talk may have at least crept into his thinking over team selectionwith Salah on the bench and teenagers Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho starting.
But like a golfer with the yips, no matter what Klopp does, he cannot cure Liverpool’s inexcusable inability to start a match well.
After springing into action with a deafening version of “Rule Britannia”, Rangers fans did all they could to unsettle Liverpool, and it worked, as once again Klopp’s side conceded first, for a remarkable eighth time from 11 this season.
Again it was their own doing, as Carvalho gave the ball away far too easily, Rangers pounced, and Scott Arfield scored their first goal in 383 minutes of Champions League football. Limbs everywhere.
Thankfully for Liverpool, Rangers are more than vulnerable at the back themselves, and allowed Roberto Firmino all the space in the world to glance home Kostas Tsimikas’s corner at the near post to level.
That was as good as it got for the visitors in the first half, however, as Rangers wasted several chances to retake the lead. More defensive brittleness like that in the first half against City on Sunday and the champions will relish emphasising how the gap has surprisingly widened between the supposed title rivals.
Rangers fell apart in the second half, with another from Firmino, as Joe Gomez channelled his inner Trent Alexander-Arnold to set up the chance, and goals from Darwin Nunez – a strike he certainly needed after a slow start to life in England – and Salah helped Liverpool put the game beyond the home side.
Salah was not done there, with his second and third of the match pinpoint finishes that resembled the Egyptian King of last season, effortless in their execution, but clinical when it mattered.
The defending left much to be desired, with home supporters boiling over in frustration at how their team had capitulated, but you still need to convert the openings. And still, few do it better than Salah.
Elliott completed the embarrassment for those still left in the emptying stadium.
There can be one consolation for those trudging home into the Glasgow night, however – they were there to witness the night when Salah found his mojo once more.
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