A first European evening under the lights at Anfield of the reformatted and redesigned Champions League. From a sensual perspective, it was an evening that gave on the one hand, but also took away on the other.

However, the football on offer has managed to look beyond the uncertainties of the new UEFA world order and entertain in a way that is both joyful and painful.

For those of us of the First Division and European Cup generation, it's quite amusing to see the Premier League and Champions League generation losing their shit over UEFA swapping supermarket shelves when it about their flagship club tournament.

Now you know what it feels like to have your version of football messed around with.

Still, the new Champions League landscape is undeniably ridiculous considering it requires 288 group games to eliminate just 12 teams, with each club playing eight “group” games instead of six.

Extra ticket money for fans attending games will be found on the back of the sofa, sports subscriptions for those watching on TV will be increased and there will be even fewer empty midweeks where we can all take a deep breath and relax.

When it comes to football, more is actually less, unless you have control of the money printing machines owned by UEFA. Thank God they saved us all from a European Super League, right?

I mean, imagine the team and fanbase entering matchday eight of the group stage in January having lost their first seven games.

The enthusiasm will have been exhausted long ago. Good luck to TNT Sports and Amazon Prime, who are hard-selling many of these later games, games that will increasingly mean absolutely nothing to at least one of the two teams.

Some things change, some things stay the same

But the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Before the game, Zadok the Priest made an appearance and boos and whistles rained down from the Anfield terraces. Liverpool fans were reassuringly unwilling to let UEFA forget its grave culpability in the events outside the Stade de France before, during and after the 2022 Champions League final. Nothing changes there.

Opposing fans turned out in force and did themselves credit, respecting Anfield traditions, holding scarves aloft while singing “You'll Never Walk Alone” and passionately supporting their team throughout.

Nothing changes there, and it's always refreshing not to be offended by the usual mix of poverty, stereotypes and tragic singing repertoire of most domestic visitors.

Sometimes it's tiring. But sometimes all you need is a Mo moment. I think the referee must have won a competition or something

— Jeff Goulding (@ShanklysBoys1) October 2, 2024

Are you saying that the referee is carrying out irregular official acts? Nothing changed for them either, with the wonderful Jeff Goulding musing on social media after the game that Nikola Dabanovic might have won a competition or something to get the job of taking the whistle.

On a night when Ibrahima Konate was shown a yellow card for the offense of obstructing on the edge of Bologna's penalty area, Jeff's theory is entirely plausible.

From my perspective in the upper grandstand, it reminded me a lot of the 1990s sitcom The Brittas Empire, which I could never really figure out if it was funny or not.

The central plot character becomes increasingly pompous and incompetent as the episode progresses, giving you the option of either suspending your simmering sense of disbelief at that Fawlty Towers pound shop in a sports center tribute act or reaching for the remote control.

However, if you're a captive audience on a soccer field, there are no remote controls that come with the seats.

The brilliance of Mo Salah

There was good, bad and ugly on the pitch, with Mo Salah shining in all three categories. His evening fluctuated from an assist for the opening goal to a series of loose balls and poor passing decisions to a wonderful goal of his own.

There is still a contractual standoff between Salah and the club over the football he will play and whose jersey he will play in next May.

There are certainly louder noises being made near where I sit at Anfield regarding displeasure at his wavering form, but nevertheless the boy is still there and making the biggest contribution to games for Liverpool. Still invaluable, still irreplaceable.

Give him the contract he wants, the keys to the city, the right to walk his sheep through the city center, an honorary diploma, a cape, a mortarboard, and an evening in his honor at St. George's Hall.

Honestly, he deserves the ticket. Don't be a weirdo by moaning to him when he fails at a piece of magic he's trying to conjure. He might be gone soon, just enjoy the guy; He was and is a blessing for Anfield.

The real negative of the night was the sloppiness of defense which gave the Bologna players chances they shouldn't have had as we had to rely on Alisson on a few occasions to cancel out all the shots on goal while Darwin Nunez wasn't enough did to ease Arne Slots' occasional public doubts about him.

However, there were also a lot of positives: Ryan Gravenberch continued to thrive, Dominik Szoboszlai showed one of his best performances in a Liverpool jersey and Alexis Mac Allister scored his first Champions League goal.

As a midfield trio, they begin to find greater cohesion from game to game.

Next up is Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday before the final international break begins. After that there is a visit from Chelsea, along with the next Champions League game at RB Leipzig.

With no completely empty midweek until mid-November, the rest of October will certainly test Slot's resolve not to rotate his team selection.

To the Reds.