Liverpool's confusing season continues. Beating Napoli 2-0 looks a dazzling result when set in a certain context, yet utterly meaningless in another.
Did they deliver for Jurgen Klopp? If so, why didn't they deliver for Klopp against Nottingham Forest and Leeds United on the past two Premier League weekends?
Two tap-ins ended Napoli's unbeaten run that stretched back to April, but Liverpool needed to win by four goals to pip their visitors to top spot in Champions League Group A after a shocking September night in Naples.
So Napoli advance to the last 16 as group winners, Liverpool joining them as runners-up, and that was more or less what everyone expected from the first minute of this tussle.
But just for a moment, Mohamed Salah's match-winning strike meant the world, and Darwin Nunez's last-gasp second goal of the game put a red cherry on the cake.
Liverpool were not English football's down-and-outs before this game, but some would have had them heading that way after those rotten league defeats plunged them firmly into the mid-table mud.
And this was most certainly not the old Liverpool. That team has gone for now, but Klopp commanded his charges to never "lose sight of our own qualities and our own potential", insisting they "can turn things around" and describing it as their "responsibility" to do so.
He urged the players to "change the perception that exists" of them, to summon their "bravest face" for the rest of Europe to witness, and on this night they just about obliged.
The last time Napoli visited Anfield, on November 27, 2019, it was a meeting of soaraway league leaders and a team in crisis. Liverpool led the Premier League by eight points from their nearest rivals, who at that point in the season were Leicester City.
Napoli, meanwhile, were in disarray after first-team players rebelled en masse and quit a training retreat just days before the Anfield visit. That getaway was ordered by club president Aurelio De Laurentiis and there were reports of heavy fines for those that fled.
On the pitch back on that occasion, Napoli were without a win in six matches in all competitions as they arrived in Liverpool. Carlo Ancelotti was a fortnight away from the sack, while in the present day it is Klopp's position that appears at its most endangered in years.
The game finished 1-1 three years ago, Liverpool coming from behind in what one press box colleague that night described to me as the Reds' "worst performance of the season".
Liverpool went on to win the Premier League, their first domestic league title triumph since 1989-90.
Napoli are presently chasing their first Serie A crown since... 1989-90. A day after Halloween, such parallels were almost spooky, these teams seemingly heading in opposite directions.
So what did Tuesday's rematch bring? Well, firstly, a meeting of soaraway league leaders and a team in crisis.
As Liverpool's form goes from bad to worse in the Premier League, Napoli are racing away in Serie A, five points clear of second-placed Atalanta, whom they face on Saturday. They were on a 13-game winning streak ahead of this tussle, including a 4-1 mauling of Klopp's men back at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Ahead of kick-off, Klopp's agent dismissed a theory the German manager could resign, pointing to a contract that has almost four years to run. This was Klopp's 100th Champions League game, across his time with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, making him the first German boss to reach that landmark, but it arrived at a dark hour in his Reds reign.
What could he, and what could we, hope to learn? What was needed from Liverpool was a performance, something to carry into the Premier League games against Tottenham and Southampton that come before the World Cup break.
Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, at 24 years and 25 days, became the youngest player in the club's history to tot up 50 Champions League appearances.
In his landmark outing, Alexander-Arnold was confronted by a defender's worst nightmare in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the young Georgian winger who is taking Europe by storm this season and shone in the first half here before fading.
Leo Ostigard thought he had headed Napoli ahead when he powered in a free-kick from Kvaratskhelia in the 53rd minute. In the 57th minute, the goal was disallowed for offside, with VAR seemingly operating at traction engine pace.
Napoli had never won away from home against an English side in European competition, drawing three times and losing on eight of their previous visits. It was looking like this might be the night they ended their wait.
And then, with five minutes plus VAR timing remaining, Salah prodded in from a foot out after Nunez's header from a corner was saved on the line.
Anfield roared, Luciano Spalletti frowned, and Jurgen Klopp allowed himself a smile before hugging the substituted Curtis Jones. Nunez tucked in from even closer range deep into stoppage time, and suddenly it was songs and good times again at the famous old ground.
Napoli should be fine and keep winning in Serie A. They impressed again, but perhaps slackened off once it became clear Liverpool would not be hitting four past them.
Quite what happens next for Liverpool is anybody's guess. They could yet head into the World Cup break in the Premier League's bottom half, or this might be a turning point.
This result and performance was "a really good reaction", according to Klopp. "I'm really happy," he told BT Sport.
His team have won five Champions League games in a row, so why wouldn't he be happy? Ah yes, the Premier League.
'One game at a time', says calm Slot after Leverkusen thrashing
Arne Slot insisted he will continue to look at "one game at a time" after leading Liverpool to a 4-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Luis Diaz's second-half hat-trick along with Cody Gakpo's 63rd-minute strike spoiled Xabi Alonso's Anfield return, moving the Reds top of the 36-team standings.
Liverpool have now won all four of their Champions League games under Slot. It’s only the second time that they have won all four opening games in a single season.
The Reds are now top of both the Premier League and Champions League, though Slot was keen to focus on the next task, which comes in the shape of Aston Villa on Saturday.
"I don't know if it was that much to do with intensity, but we took more risk," Slot said.
"They overloaded the midfield a lot, and we adjusted at half-time and took the risk to play one v one all over. We had better chances in the first half and they weren't a goal threat.
"As much as this time, how good they are in Europe, sometimes a strong target man is better than someone a bit faster.
"Curtis Jones did an incredible pass, and then you have someone with the pace of Lucho to finish it off. The pass was as good as the goal, in my opinion.
"You don't look ahead as a manager in the next three months. You're always one game at a time. We've got Aston Villa on Saturday, another tough game."
Diaz's treble saw him become only the second Colombian player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League, after Faustino Asprilla for Newcastle against Barcelona in 1997.
And he insisted that things have started brightly for Slot at Anfield, but said his team-mates must continue to perform to have something to show for it at the end of the season.
"The most important thing is the three points in this edition of the Champions League so we can keep progressing in the competition," Diaz said.
"Things have gone so well with the new manager, it wasn't easy for him to come in and fill Jurgen Klopp's shoes.
"Hopefully, we'll have something to show for it at the end of the season.
"We have top-quality players all over the pitch and I really enjoyed playing in that position today. I'm just happy to be on the pitch.
"I need to go and find that ball now because I need to keep it somewhere special at home."
For Alonso and Leverkusen, meanwhile, it marked a first Champions League defeat since 2022, while also conceding four or more goals in an away match in the competition since 2013 against Manchester United.
"It's painful the result more than the performance, probably," Alonso told Amazon Prime.
"But this is the Champions League, this is the highest level, and today it wasn't enough for us."
"It's too early to tell, but I can see that Liverpool have a very good balance, a very complete team.
"They work with 11 players, and they have the power to hold a clean sheet, which is important in the Champions League.
"In the Premier League, let's see. It's early to tell but it's looking good."
Alonso, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, was serenaded by the home supporters at Anfield during the contest.
"I tried to separate the game and the pain from the result from the nice feelings to come back. I'm really happy and thankful for that reception," he added.
Liverpool 4-0 Leverkusen: Diaz nets second-half hat-trick to extend 100% start
Luis Diaz scored a second-half hat-trick for Liverpool in their 4-0 victory at home to Bayer Leverkusen as they maintained their 100% start to their Champions League campaign.
Arne Slot's side lead the 36-team league within Europe's main competition following the result, with only Aston Villa alongside them as the only other club to have won every game. They play Club Brugge on Wednesday in their fourth match.
Back in Liverpool, things got off to a slow start with the scores level until the 61st minute. Diaz lifted the ball over goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to get things moving before Cody Gakpo made it two just two minutes later.
Gakpo's goal was initially ruled offside by the on-field official, though was overturned following a VAR review.
Diaz then scored his second and Liverpool's third of the night in the 83rd minute after picking up Mohamed Salah's cross and slotting past Hradecky. The Colombian rounded things off deep into stoppage time with a tap in from close range.
The result leaves Leverkusen 11th in the table with seven points, having tasted their first defeat of the competition at Anfield.
Data debrief: Slot has Liverpool purring
Liverpool are now top of both the Champions League standings and the Premier League and continue to go from strength to strength under Slot.
They looked much more threatening in the second half compared to the first, registering 3.48 xG in the second period after just 0.64 in the first half.
Diaz, meanwhile, has now scored nine goals in 15 matches in all competitions.
Al-Nassr 5-1 Al-Ain: Ronaldo on target in AFC Champions League win
Cristiano Ronaldo powered Al-Nassr to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Asian Champions League Elite holders Al-Ain on Tuesday.
The victory carried a sense of redemption for Al-Nassr as they avenged last season's semi-final defeat to the same opposition on their way to lifting a second title in the competition.
Talisca fired the hosts into a fifth minute lead with a well-taken effort from the edge of the box before Ronaldo poked home his 908th career goal just after the half-hour mark.
Visiting defender Fabio Cardoso then deflected Angelo's effort beyond Khalid Eisa to hand Al-Nassr a comfortable advantage at the interval.
Al-Ain did, however, pull one back early in the second half when Park Yong-woo's strike struck the post and went in off the back of Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
But the result was put beyond doubt late on when Wesley curled home Al-Nassr's fourth, before Talisca notched his brace in second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Return of Ronaldo
After winning five Champions League across his glittering career, Ronaldo is now eyeing a first AFC Champions League crown with Al-Nassr.
The 39-year-old has six goals in eight appearances in the competition, with his goal against Al-Ain ending a three-game goal drought for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo also registered a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.25 towards Al-Nassr's 2.67 total, while also producing more shots (eight) and touches in the opposition box (nine) than any other player on the pitch.
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