Liverpool's Premier League form might have left them out of touch of the title contenders, but togetherness in their squad still appears to be high.
Jurgen Klopp's team lost 3-2 at Arsenal on Sunday to drop 14 points behind the league leaders, prompting worrying comments from Virgil van Dijk about confidence levels in the squad. However, the Reds responded to that result with a demolition of Rangers in the Champions League.
Liverpool scored six times in the second half at Ibrox to complete a 7-1 victory, with substitute Mohamed Salah hitting a quickfire hat-trick. Youngster Harvey Elliott was also on target, scoring his first ever Champions League goal, and one interaction between the two scorers late on will warm the hearts of supporters.
Elliott had to wait a while to celebrate his goal. The youngster had tucked the ball home after Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor denied Diogo Jota, but an offside flag went up almost immediately.
As is always the case with goal incidents, VAR took a look at the supposed offence. Ultimately, it found that neither Jota nor Salah was offside in the build-up, allowing referee Slavko Vincic to award the goal.
While Elliott waited nervously for the verdict, he was joined by senior teammate Salah. The Egyptian put his arms around the former Fulham starlet for a wait which must have felt like it was taking ages, and he looked just as delighted as Elliott when the award of the goal was finally confirmed.
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"We had a really positive half-time talk," Klopp told BT Sport after the victory. "We wanted more in the second half. Clearly, it worked out.
"Special, particularly Mo. Very important how we adapted to the positions, to the line-up. Everyone who started tonight played really well - Fabio [Carvalho] and Harvey [Elliott], really good. It's the best we could have asked for. I'm really pleased.
"I really think the first half prepared the second half. When we are on it, we can be a really good football team. We built on the good things from the first half, we kept them moving and obviously they had to change the centre-half.
"The goals we scored were exceptional. it's a night where things worked out for us. It changes the mood definitely, and that's good. We all know who is coming on Sunday. That will be different, but it's better to go in with the feeling from tonight."
Liverpool won't have much time to recover before their next Premier League game. They play host to reigning champions Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, knowing a defeat would see them fall 16 points behind their opponents.
