For the first time in six months, Jurgen Klopp might have broken from his new-found tradition of watching football matches with his feet up somewhere sunny, bottle of beer in hand, enjoying the game without a care in the world.
This was a meeting of his old club, a team which will remain in his heart for life, and his new charges. To much disgust in Germany – Klopp will soon become head of global football at Red Bull and thus have an influence on strategy at RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg among others.
He would have hardly been pacing up and down in his living room gesticulating akin to his famed touchline antics at Anfield but one imagines this fiercely-contested, high-octane battle – in keeping with the Red Bull theme – at least set the senses roaring again.
A football addict cannot stay away for long and so he will be back here in January hoping Leipzig, who were not even a club when Liverpool won their fifth of six European Cups in 2005, can make a genuine push for the Bundesliga title.
They put in a good battle and made this a tricky test for Arne Slot and Co, but Liverpool ultimately swatted them away with a defiant victory after Darwin Nunez’s first-half goal made it 11 wins from 12 for the season. Red Bull gives you wings and all that.
Darwin Nunez scored his second goal of the season to give Liverpool the lead against RB Leipzig
The Reds maintained their perfect start in the competition with the win over the joint Bundesliga leaders
That means the Dutchman is the first manager in Liverpool history to win 11 of his first 12 – bettering Sir Kenny Dalglish’s start – which is not bad considering Slot sent a warning to the Reds’ title rivals on the eve of the game by saying they had seen nothing yet.
‘Performances are not there yet,’ he said on Tuesday. That must have made ominous reading for Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, given how well Liverpool have started the season. Any fans still fearing a form drop-off in the post-Klopp era?
‘We should be proud because so many great teams have worn this shirt and so many great managers have been at the club,’ said Slot. ‘So to achieve something that hasn’t been done before is almost impossible and always nice.
‘But there is something that is much nicer than records and you know what I mean by that – trophies.’
This display was not perfect, mind, though Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk all came within inches of adding goals. Peter Gulacsi, who was in Liverpool’s academy and also played for Hull among others, put in an inspired performance to keep the scores down.
This trip to Leipzig, a charming city with Eastern Bloc vibes, represented what might well have been Slot’s toughest test yet as Liverpool boss. Marco Rose’s team are unbeaten in the German Bundesliga and behind leaders Bayern Munich on goal difference alone.
They started well, too, and had multiple early chances. Lois Openda nearly charged through on goal only to be stumped by tough defending from Ibrahima Konate – once of this parish with four seasons at Leipzig – then Amadou Haidara saw a powerful shot saved.
Producers of goalkeeper blooper reels would have been excited minutes later when Caoimhin Kelleher nearly gifted Leipzig the lead. The Irishman charged off his line, misjudged the bounce of the ball and his attempted headed clearance was weak and did not clear the danger.
Benjamin Sesko, the highly-rated Slovenian forward who was tipped as ‘one to watch’ in the European Championship this summer only to flop, saw a curling effort from a tight angle fly just wide. A lucky Kelleher, in no man’s land at this point, could only puff out his cheeks in relief.
Lois Openda thought he had opened the scoring for the home side but his brilliant effort was disallowed for offside
Arne Slot has become the first Liverpool manager to win their first three games in the European Cup since Bill Shankly
Nunez had scored just one goal for the Reds since April and has been hammered by some pundits for wasteful finishing – so he needed a bit of luck in front of goal. He got just that as he tapped home to open the scoring on 27 minutes with one of the easiest goals he will ever score.
Kostas Tsimikas put in an inviting cross to Mohamed Salah, who headed the ball back across goal with a postage stamp for the bottom corner. ‘Sorry, Mo, but I’ll have this one, mate,’ Nunez might have said, as he bundled in at the back post to steal Salah’s thunder and tap home.
The smirk on Salah’s face painted a picture of no hard feelings. Gone are the days of Salah being obsessed with being the main man – Sadio Mane famously once accused him of selfishness in front of goal – and the Egyptian is now happily creator in chief, too.
Despite Leipzig’s strong start, they faded after Liverpool’s opener and the away side should have doubled their lead before the break. Nunez worked Gulacsi at full stretch before the keeper then tipped a Virgil van Dijk header on to the crossbar.
Card-happy Swiss referee Sandro Scharer bafflingly turned down what looked like a stone-wall penalty as Nunez was felled by Willi Orban in the six-yard box. Contact was clearly made with the Uruguayan’s legs and he sat on the floor in disbelief as his appeals led to nothing.
Gakpo could have had a brace with two big chances. First he was poked through on goal with a beautiful, disguised pass by Dominik Szoboszlai, but the Dutchman fired into the side-netting. Then he was thwarted by Gulacsi from point-blank range. Alexis Mac Allister also hit the bar.
The visitors felt they should have had a penalty when Nunez was felled by Leipzig skipper Willi Orban
Former Reds stopper Peter Gulacsi make a series of fins saves to keep Leipzig in the contest
Liverpool might have been made to rue their misses when Sesko charged through on goal only for Kelleher to make a brilliant stop from close range near the end. A fine attacking show early on, then a stellar defensive display at the end to keep a seventh clean sheet in 12 games.
It felt like Liverpool were hanging on slightly at the end as several passes went astray and they stopped finding ways through Leipzig’s relentless pressing — and they were lucky when Openda went through on goal only to fluff his lines in injury time.
Slot added: ‘I don’t think we started the game very well but after the first 15 minutes I liked a lot of what I saw. It is a pity at the end of a game like that when you need big roles from your two centre-backs and goalkeeper. A game like that should have been ours after 60-70 minutes.’
Even the calm and collected Dutchman must have been overcome with anxiety and so Slot instructed Curtis Jones to take the ball into the corner to run down the clock, but his team managed to hold on to keep up their 100 per cent record in Europe.
Back to Klopp, he will be delighted with Liverpool’s progress – his ex-assistant Pep Lijnders told Mail Sport this week that their biggest wish was to leave the club on a high rather than stay too long and let it decline – while being impressed by his new pals in Saxony.
Fans of his first club Mainz held up banners last weekend reading ‘have you forgotten everything we gave you?’ and ‘Bekloppt’ – which translates as ‘are you crazy?’. He has been accused over here of selling his soul by joining the Red Bull empire.
He will have been hurt by those banners, and protests from Borussia Dortmund – who hate Leipzig more than even Bayern – though his move was no huge surprise given his long-standing relations with members of the Red Bull top brass.
Openda was again disappointed late on when his finish at the back post was ruled out for offside
Marco Rose’s side are still in search of their first point in the Champions League this season
Liverpool have now won 11 of their first 12 matches this season, including six straight away from home for the first time
Maybe by the end of this game, though, he will have put his feet back up to enjoy a tight, entertaining contest. While the majority of Germany has turned against him for his decision to join the controversial franchise, those at Liverpool love him for the state he left the team in.
Slot can be added to that list – but that is not to take away from the fine job the 46-year-old is doing since making the significant leap from Feyenoord this summer. Three from three in the Champions League, top of the Premier League, he is slotting into Klopp’s shoes just fine.
