Liverpool boss Arne Slot hits out at Virgil van Dijk’s critics after Champions League rout

Luis Diaz scored Liverpool's first Champions League hat-trick at Anfield in seven years as they extended their 100 per-cent record to four matches with a 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen as former midfielder Xabi Alonso endured a miserable return.

Diaz's impudent chip was followed by Cody Gakpo's fourth goal in a week as the hosts won the game within the space of three second-half minutes before Diaz added two more late on.

Liverpool's first eight goals in the competition all came from different scorers – Diaz the first man to net more than once – and shows the options and versatility head coach Arne Slot has at his disposal as on this occasion he opted to play the Colombia international as a centre-forward to accommodate Gakpo on the left.

Diaz may have stolen the show with his second half goals, but Liverpool boss Slot suggest Van Dijk answered some of his critics with another commanding performance.

"Virgil sometimes gets criticised about not stepping into the midfield," said Slot. "Now I would advise these people to watch this game today because he was constantly on the front foot.

"Overall, the second-half display was strong. I don't know if it was that much to do with intensity but we took more risk.

"They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted a half-tine and took the risk to play one v one all over. We had better chances in the first half and they weren't a goal threat.

"As much as this time, how good they are in Europe, sometimes a strong target man is better than someone a bit faster. Curtis Jones did an incredible pass and then you have someone with the pace of Lucho to finish it off. The pass was as good as the goal in my opinion.

"You don't look ahead as a manager at the next three months. You're always one game at a time. We've got Aston Villa on Saturday, another tough game."

Diaz suggested he had to find a place for the match ball in is home after one of his best nights in a Liverpool jersey.

"The most important thing is the three points in this edition of the Champions League so we can keep progressing in the competition," Diaz told TNT Sports.

"Things have gone so well with the new manager, it wasn't easy for him to come in and fill Jurgen Klopp's shoes. Hopefully, we'll have something to show for it at the end of the season.

"We have top-quality players all over the pitch and I really enjoyed playing in that position today. I'm just happy to be on the pitch.

"I need to go and find that ball now because I need to keep it somewhere special at home."

It was also a big night for Ireland keeper Caoimhín Kelleher, who pulled off two late saves and he made an impressive return to Champions League as he played only his second game in the competition at Anfield, nearly four years after his first against Ajax in December 2020.

Slot was offered the chance to praise Kelleher in his post match interview, but he was keen to suggest his entire defence has performed well.

"What I like about today is we only needed him (Kelleher) five minutes from the end," added Slot.

"We're hard to play through but sometimes they play through the press. I like the work rate of the players."