Olympiacos made the three-hour trip to Agrinio to face Panetolikos FC in December 2019, with Kostas Tsimikas lining up as part of a back four under Pedro Martins.
3-0 was the result after 90 minutes of football, with the Greek left-back setting up four shots for his teammates, one of which was registered as an assist after it was converted by Youssef El-Arabi.
Four days later, Tsimikas created another four shots for his teammates in their Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade, before facing Asteras Tripolis in his next Greek Super League match and creating a further four.
The attack-minded full-back was directly responsible for 12 of Olympiacos' shots over the course of the three-match period inside a week, with nine of those originating from dangerous open-play crosses.
Tsimikas showed natural composure in the final third in his homeland, and merged his ability to spot a pass with the technique to execute, making him a tricky threat for opposing defences to manage.
Later in the season, Olympiacos faced Wolves in the knockout stages of the Europa League, with Tsimikas lining up against Adama Traore.
He fared reasonably well against Traore's one-on-one magic across both legs, with Michael Edwards - Liverpool's sporting director - using the second clash at Molineux to meet with Olympiacos' general manager - Evangelia Souloukou - to discuss a transfer.
With Andy Robertson playing virtually every minute for Jurgen Klopp's team on Merseyside and James Milner unable to offer comparable perks on the ball, Tsimikas was picked up for as little as £11.75m.
Napoli and Leicester City - who expected to lose Ben Chilwell in the near future - were rumoured to be interested in his services, but the Reds moved quick enough to bring him to England.
Much is made about Liverpool's distinctive recruitment policy but despite a slow start to his career at Anfield, Tsimikas is gradually developing into a poster boy of sorts for how the club operate in the transfer market.
Not only was he attained for a reasonable price, but he was scouted from an obscure competition such as the Greece Super League, and he appears to be very much in the mould of a full-back with Robertson's offensive profile.
Based on his limited number of minutes in the Premier League and Champions League this season, Tsimikas averages more passes into the penalty box, switches of play and key passes per 90 than his Scottish teammate, with a key pass defined as a pass that leads directly to a shot.
Liverpool seemingly reflected upon Klopp's favoured 4-3-3 system, identified how and why Robertson prospers as a left-back, and scoured Europe to locate an affordable clone.
Having initially joined as a second-in-command to Robertson, Tsimikas is steadily turning up the heat on the Scot with every performance, and his success is a testament to Liverpool's competence on and off the field.
