If one were to imagine the reaction from the senior figures at Porto when they were drawn in the same group as Liverpool, it may well have gone something like that.
As Liverpool travel to Portugal for their first away tie of the Champions League campaign, there may be a sense of dread from the hosts set to entertain them.
When the Reds visited the coastal town in February 2018, it spoke of a true Champions League tie: a raucous atmosphere inside the Estadio do Dragao, two teams steeped in history and quality players on either side.
But Liverpool were not here for the sunny climes or sight-seeing of Porto’s famous fishing harbour. No, they tore through this game like as if it were an inconvenience, destroying everything in their path.
Five goals, a clean sheet and some truly devastating football, with a new record to cap their impressive victory.
Of course, this was not a Porto side anywhere near the level of the side that won the Champions League in 2003-04 under Jose Mourinho.
But they were still the Portuguese champions. They were still 21 matches unbeaten going into the game.
So to be dismantled in such a way by the outstanding Sadio Mane and genius of Mohamed Salah was simply mesmerising to observe.
They simply could not live with the former as the Senegalese helped himself to a hat-trick, becoming the first Liverpool player to score thrice away in Europe since Michael Owen in 2002.
There was nothing glamorous about Mane’s strike for the opener as it squirmed underneath Jose Sa in the Porto goal.
But the second just summed up their superiority. James Milner eased past two defenders before cracking a 25-yard effort off the post and then entered Salah.
The Egyptian still had a lot to do, juggling the bouncing back past one defender, past another before coolly slotting past Sa. Two goals in four minutes and they weren’t done yet.
A truly devastating counter attack saw Liverpool blitz the Porto goal and Mane tapped home from the rebound after Firmino’s effort was pushed out to the left.
Not even Jesus Corona could stop Mane by tugging on his shirt as he wriggled away from him and Milner teed up Firmino for the side-footed finish.
By this point, they were toying with their opponents. A crafty flick on the swivel from Mane set through Firmino, he returned the favour and then Mane thundered an effort beyond Sa.
In conceding five goals, it was Porto’s heaviest-ever home defeat in European competition, just to compound the humiliation those players felt. In all honesty, they had not even played badly.
But from Liverpool’s perspective, this was a performance that would have sent tremors through European football, that a new dawn was coming — and it was tinted with the scarlet red colour of the Merseyside club.
Jurgen Klopp is rarely a man who is satisfied with anything in football. He is a perfectionist, striving for constant improvement and making marginal gains where necessary.
But even the German struggled to find any flaws in his side’s performance.
“Perfect? Yes,” he replied when asked about the team’s display after the game.
“Results like this are only possible if everyone is really scored five goals but we played as a team and played great football from start to finish.
Heading to Porto for matchday two in the 2021-22 Champions League group stage is a completely different side with a blend of youth and experience.
The magical front three of Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino all scored on that memorable evening. But now, it is arguable that only Salah retains the same level of influence at the top level.
Mane has been through his toughest season yet at Anfield, while Firmino is something of a bystander these days — and has been dropped in favour of Diogo Jota.
As a man who is Lisbon born and bred, Jota would surely love nothing more than emulating the achievements of the dangerous triumvirate in the home of Benfica’s rivals.
Georginio Wijnaldum is no longer at the club while James Milner only plays a bit-part role these days. Youngsters such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones maintain an important role in the squad.
To demand a similar performance from his side is not something Klopp would typically expect.
That team in 2018 was good enough to reach the Champions League final only to lose out to Real Madrid in the final, but the side in front of him now is arguably still in a state of flux, as demonstrated by their entertaining 3-3 draw with Brentford on Saturday.
But that victory will serve a reminder to Salah, Mane and even Firmino of the powers they once had — and may be able to produce the same magic again in Porto if required.
