Michael Owen compared Rangers' second half collapse to Celtic eventually succumbing to Real Madrid after Liverpool ran riot at Ibrox.
Gio van Bronckhorst's team needed to win if they were to stand any chance of somehow sneaking out of Group A and into the last 16 of the Champions League. They started brilliantly and went at the Reds from the off, taking the lead when Scott Arfield got onto Ryan jack's pass and finished past Allison to really get the Govan ground rocking.
Their joy was short lived though. Seven minutes later, Roberto Firmino got in front of James Tavernier to nod home the leveller. The with score level at half-time, the Light Blues were still in with a shout if they could replicate their first half display. But in the second 45, the floodgates opened. Firmino added his and his team's second before Darwin Nunez added a third to deflate Rangers even more.
From then on, it was the Mo Salah show as the Egyptian king scored a hat-trick in 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Harvey Elliott rubbed salt in the wounds, firing home a seventh for the Scousers, although the youngster had to wait on VAR to confirm his maiden goal in this competition after an offside flag had initially denied him.
Owen was at Parkhead a few weeks ago to see Celtic open their campaign against Real. The Hoops were the better side in the first half, hitting the post through Callum McGregor before the most successful European club took control after the break, running out 3-0 winners. The former Anfield striker felt Rangers "punched themselves out" in the first half, much like their city rivals did and quality punished tiredness in much the same way.
Here's what the pundits said after Rangers' biggest ever competitive defeat.
Michael Owen
“Ally mentioned that he wanted to see Rangers throwing punches all game. They punched themselves out in that first half and I think you get that when there’s a class difference between two teams.
“I wa sup here in Glasgow not too long ago, watching Real Madrid and Celtic and exactly the same thing happened. Tired legs and then a few goals go in. It’s upsetting for Rangers because they possibly didn’t deserve to concede seven.”
Ally McCoist
“I’m hurting a little bit, obviously. We lost six goals in the second half; not good. The gulf in class was there for everyone to see.
“But tomorrow morning, I promise you, I’ll sit and think that ten years ago - I make no apology for saying it again - we were at Peterhead and Elgin at the bottom of the Third Division.
“To come back from that in a decade, I was chuffed to bits with the first half performance. I really was. I’m disappointed and I’m sore that we lost six goals in the second half but the gulf was there to see. And of course there’s an element of pride.
Rio Ferdinand
“The difference in quality, the difference in the league, when you're playing at this intensity all the time, it takes its toll. The substitutes that came off the bench changed the game completely. Salah and Thiago are absolute quality and really solidified what they’d already built in this game.
"Klopp will be pleased. They needed a game like this with certain people like Firmino and Salah getting goals and they’ll be looking forward to the game at the weekend.
READ NEXT:
