Diogo Jota attracted more than his fair share of admirers, including James Pearce, with a remarkable display at Anfield to help Liverpool secure their first Champions League group stage win of the season.
The Portuguese star didn’t get on the scoresheet but played a crucial role in Mo Salah’s opener, grabbing the assist as the Reds made a rare positive start to a game.
“Diogo Jota performed like a man with a point to prove, and understandably so,” the reporter wrote for The Athletic.
“The Portugal international wasn’t still out there when Joel Matip lifted the gloom hanging over Liverpool’s young season with the 89th-minute headed winner that sent Anfield into raptures.
“But Jota had already left his mark against Ajax.
“Handed his first start of the season by Jurgen Klopp, he set the tone for a much-improved display in his second Champions League group game that was the antithesis of last week’s dismal capitulation away to Napoli in the first.
“‘Much higher intensity, much more aggression, braver, more ready – everything was better,’ says Klopp.
“And all that stemmed from Jota and the dynamism and energy he provided as the focal point of the attack.”
The Merseysiders’ latest win saw them make up for the ‘horror show’, as Jurgen Klopp put it, of a visit to Naples last week.
It has to be said that the 2-1 victory over Alfred Schreuder was far from being a perfect outing from the German’s men, as midfield deficiencies were at times exposed and we lacked the kind of protection of Jordan Henderson excels at providing down the right-flank to compensate for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ranging runs.
That being said, it was still the closest fans have seen Liverpool come to having all departments functioning how one might expect.
At the moment, it seems like both Jota and, particularly, Thiago Alcantara could be particularly integral to ensuring that the forward line and midfield three excel after the international break.