Liverpool's last performance before their domestic campaign gets underway was a delightful one, as they emphatically beat German giants 4-0 in a pre-season friendly at Anfield.
Goals from Daniel Sturridge, Dejan Lovren, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson capped off a memorable friendly against tough opposition.
The occasion was a magnificent one and the city of Liverpool carried a great atmosphere all day as they welcomed the Germans to Merseyside. The scenes pre kick off were breathtaking as both sides gave a fitting rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" whilst the teams prepared for battle.
Brendan Rodgers handed debuts to Dejan Lovren and Javier Manquillo, whilst also giving new man Emre Can his first taste of Anfield as he started in midfield.
The Reds started brightly as they did against Man United in the US, closing down and putting the opposition under pressure from the off. A magnificent flick from the impressive Coutinho set up Sturridge to finish with the outside of his boot, right into the bottm corner on 10'.
Gerrard's corner was met by £20m man Lovren moments later to make it 2-0 on 14', a fantastic debut from the Croatian who loved every minute of the game.
Lucas replaced Can at HT before shortly into the second half, Sterling found Coutinho in the box, who calmy controlled before drilling home with his weak foot from a tight angle on 49'.
Some absolutely exquisite passing from Liverpool then ended with Coutinho's pass running too far for Sturridge, but the frontman kept the ball in before taking on the defender and setting up Henderson to tap home on 61'.
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted.
''I'm delighted. BVB have been one of leading teams in Europe. I thought we were excellent. You saw our identity & quality. It was a perfect end to a great pre-season for us. Thank you to Borussia Dortmund for coming over, they’re a great team."
“I’ve been really pleased with all of the signings because they have all come in as part of our strategy and the types of profile of players that we want,”.
“Of the two boys that played today, Dejan was perfect – he’s what we’ve been looking for since Jamie Carragher left. He’s a very dominant centre-half.
“He’ll go and attack the ball, reads the game incredibly well and you can see his leadership qualities with his talking and guidance of the back four.
“You also saw his range of pass on both sides, left foot and right foot. His pass into [Philippe] Coutinho for the first goal was wrapped in with his left foot and that creates the nick around the corner to get us the goal.
“Like he showed us last year, he is dominant in the air in the other box, attacking it. I thought he was excellent.”
“Manquillo was outstanding,” Rodgers added. “Just 20 and playing his first game at Anfield having only joined this week. His fitness level was very good.
“He’s the type of full-back I like – he can get tight to people, stop crosses and defend well, but also then has the energy to attack and get forward. He was very, very good.”
Rodgers hailed the quality of magician Philippe Coutinho after a special performance.
“"I really see Coutinho over the next four or five years, being a big force in world football, both for Brazil and Liverpool."”
"And that's Coutinho's best position - playing between the lines, he doesn't get marked. The weight of his passes is phenomenal."”
"He's so gifted. His ability to get out of tight situations and his view of the game is incredible."”
He also spoke on the situations of Lazar Markovic and Daniel Agger.
'Markovic has a slight problem with his tendon. If he's not ready for 1st game of the season, he'll definitely be ready for 2nd'”
"I saw some stories about Agger leaving but we've had no enquires. He's still getting treatment on his knee."”