How the media in Germany have reacted to Bayer Leverkusen's 4-0 Champions League defeat to rampant Liverpool at Anfield

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka during his side's Champions League loss to Liverpool at Anfield(Image: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Bayer Leverkusen discovered the power of Anfield as they were blown away by Liverpool in Tuesday's eagerly anticipated Champions League clash.

They tasted defeat just once last season - in the Europa League final to Atalanta, who knocked Liverpool out on the road to Dublin - and won both the Bundesliga and the German Cup.

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And while they quite haven't matched those heights so far this season, Xabi Alonso's side arrived on Merseyside having made an unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign.

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But that record was obliterated in the space of 30 minutes as Luis Diaz hit his first hat-trick for the Reds while Cody Gakpo maintained his hot streak with his fourth goal in three games.

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The second-half blitz would not have come as a surprise to Leverkusen boss Alonso, who spent five seasons at Liverpool during his decorated playing career, or the likes of his midfield general Granit Xhaka, who has plenty of experience of the ground from his time at Arsenal.

But for most of the Leverkusen squad it was their first time feeling the force of Anfield.

The Bayer Leverkusen players also took note of it in the tunnel that leads onto the pitch.

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"Bayer saw this match as a definite endurance test, a class above the previous games won against Feyenoord Rotterdam and AC Milan - as they say in Liverpool: 'This is Anfield.

This means more'.

"The test result after 90 plus three minutes was not a good one, Bayer only held out for an hour, then the German champions were more or less overrun by a professionally aggressive Liverpool.

Or as Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka put it in a TV interview on Amazon Prime after the game: “You learn from the best.”

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"On this evening, there was always a little too little of the possession football that made Bayer champions.

In the thick of it all: the Bayer Leverkusen team.

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"The German champions had made their way to the legendary Anfield Road to take on Liverpool.
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