How many will Mohamed Salah get this season? Forty? Fifty? A tired puff of the cheeks by Porto’s Moussa Marega after his irresistible 30th said it all. There was half an hour on the clock inside the Estádio do Dragão when Salah opened his tally for the evening. Liverpool supporters idolise the man they call the Egyptian King but Salah seems to have grander plans, like conquering Europe, for starters. Salah provided the delicate touches on a night when Liverpool displayed an iron core and just what their manager, Jürgen Klopp, had requested – “a real serious performance”.

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By the time Salah added Liverpool’s second, firing home after juggling the ball with a few effortless keepie-uppies as if alone after everybody else had gone home from training, Liverpool were essentially cruising. The composure that Salah showed was representative of Liverpool as a whole on a night when they exuded an affirming arrogance. Playing in luminous citrus orange, this was a wondrous, colourful display.

Liverpool’s display was slick but it was Klopp’s decision to beef up the midfield which provided the unerring platform on which they could build. Jordan Henderson and James Milner offered both tenacity and a touch of class but it was Liverpool’s bite that was felt most.

It was impossible to avoid the flattering numbers surrounding Liverpool’s fluid front three before or after this match – only Paris Saint-Germain had scored more goals in the group stages – but, for the away leg, their defensive showing was always going to go some way to defining the outcome of this tie, with the priority being taking something back to Anfield next month.

Play Video 1:00 Jürgen Klopp full of praise as Liverpool put five past Porto – video

Hence why Klopp opted to utilise the knowhow of Milner and Henderson alongside Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield; the Liverpool captain was excused from their successful trip to Southampton last Sunday with this match in view, to ensure their gameplan was, as the Liverpool manager said, “spot on from the first second“. For Liverpool, a team so often their own worst enemy, as in Seville in November, managed to strike the perfect balance here, with the pairing of pragmatic central pillars Henderson and Milner assuming control as Liverpool dominated long periods. Milner’s simple, weighted square ball for Liverpool’s fourth epitomised an unselfish midfield masterclass.

This was another audition for Andrew Robertson to nail down the left-back berth – perhaps the toughest one yet – and he coped admirably, marauding down the flank to provide a constant outlet.

On the opposite flank Trent Alexander-Arnold had his hands full with Yacine Brahimi and was bullied far too easily by Otavio early on. Dejan Lovren, too, was made to look silly but made amends. Amid the ongoing focus around the £75m defender Virgil van Dijk, who made his Champions League debut for the club here, Robertson continues to look like one of Klopp’s shrewdest bits of business.

Add in the impending arrival of Naby Keita in the summer and the prospect of Liverpool’s midfield axis – with or without Emre Can – is mouthwatering, on this evidence at least. Henderson has struggled with injuries but orchestrated the tune on a lilting evening for Liverpool under the lights.

Roberto Firmino had bullishly stated how Liverpool would make Porto suffer but, at the back, they needed to suffocate the Portuguese league leaders. In fact, they made them squeal.

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They were – again – simply devastating on the counterattack, as Porto could testify nine minutes into the second half when Sadio Mané added his second of three. They exuded a confidence reminiscent of their last Champions League last-16 outing in 2009, when they wrung out Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield.

Now they have another unforgettable display to rival that evening when Andrea Dossena capped the rout for Rafael Benítez’s side. An accomplished performance of this nature begs the question as to what exactly is left for his players to focus on over the course of a four-day training camp in Marbella this week. It simply does not get much better than this but, after nine years away from the biggest European stage, they rightly relished every moment.