Luis Diaz hat-trick propels Liverpool, Manchester City in 'dark place' after shock Champions League defeat

Pep Guardiola's team lose 4-1 to Manchester United-bound Ruben Amorim's Sporting, Real Madrid slump to 3-1 loss at home

Liverpool's Luis Diaz celebrates scoring his side's first goal against Bayer Leverkusen in their Uefa Champions League match at Anfield. PA

Liverpool's Luis Diaz scored a hat-trick as they maintained their perfect Uefa Champions League campaign with a stunning 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield on Tuesday.

Arne Slot's team provisionally lead the standings after their fourth win in four matches.

Leverkusen's loss spoiled the return of manager and former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who hoisted the Champions League trophy with the Reds in 2005.

"We took more risk [in the second half]," Slot told Amazon Prime. "They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted at half time and took the risk to play one v one all over."

Diaz played as a centre-forward and it proved to be a masterstroke as the Colombian broke the deadlock in the 61st minute, timing his run onto Curtis Jones' pinpoint pass through Leverkusen's defence before lifting the ball over keeper Lukas Hradecky.

Cody Gakpo doubled the Reds' lead two minutes later when he dived to head Mohamed Salah's cross home at the back post. The goal was initially ruled offside but the decision was overturned by VAR.

Diaz netted his second in the 83rd minute when he latched onto a cross from Salah, and then held off a challenge before slotting past Hradecky. He completed his hat-trick with a tap-in from close range in stoppage time after Darwin Nunez's shot was blocked.

It was a comprehensive victory for the six-time winners of Europe's premier club competition against the Bundesliga champions who lost just once last season.

"Second half we could adjust the gameplan, we took more risks and we were better with the ball as well," said Slot.

"If you work or play at Liverpool you always feels pressure but we embrace this because we want to compete for everything. You have to accept if you work or play here you can enjoy these incredible evenings."

Manchester City shocked by Sporting

Bernardo Silva admitted Manchester City are in a "dark place" after their shock 4-1 defeat at Sporting.

Viktor Gyokeres' hat-trick and a series of costly City misses condemned Pep Guardiola's men to three successive defeats for the first time since 2018.

Adding to City's woes was the sight of Sporting boss Ruben Amorim celebrating a remarkable victory in his final home game before leaving the Portuguese champions to take charge of Manchester United on November 11.

City's heaviest defeat since 2020 meant, for only the second time in the Guardiola era, they had suffered three consecutive losses in a single season.

After a strong start to the season, the Premier League champions were beaten by Tottenham in the League Cup last week before losing at Bournemouth on Saturday in their first top-flight defeat since December.

The results have come amid a rash of injuries to key players including Rodri, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne, who was only fit enough for a brief substitute appearance at the Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.

"It's disappointing because we're a bit in a dark place right now. Everything looks to be going in the wrong way," Silva said.

"Even when we are playing well we don't score our chances and we concede too easily. We need to get better very quickly otherwise it will be very difficult to come back from these losses.

"It's difficult to find reasons for what is happening to us. It just looks like this team is going the wrong way now. Our injured players need to come back because we need them and it's just not good enough tonight."

Real Madrid 'have to be concerned'

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he had major concerns after a 3-1 defeat to AC Milan at the Bernabeu saw them suffer back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the first time in over three years.

Real hosted Milan after a humiliating 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in the clasico over a week ago and they were again dominated at their own ground in a display that exposed the champions' poor defending and lack of firepower.

Ancelotti urged his players to react quickly so they don't fall too far behind in the hunt for a top-eight finish in the 36-team Champions League table as they currently languish in 17th place with six points after four games.

"We have to be concerned, the team is not playing well," Ancelotti said. "The team is not compact, we need to be more compact, more organised, we've conceded a lot of goals. The team is not well organised on the pitch and we need to work on this.

"We have to focus on what we have today, which is a team that is not at its best, and get back to our level so we can fight for all competitions."

Alvaro Morata came back to haunt his former club as Milan heaped more misery on Real Madrid.

Malick Thiaw opened the scoring for the visitors before Vinicius Junior levelled for Madrid, but Morata scored in the 39th minute before Tijjani Reijnders added a third in the second half.

Thilo Kehrer stabbed home from close range in the 86th minute to lift Monaco into third as they earned a 1-0 win over Bologna.

Borussia Dortmund left it late to secure a 1-0 win over Sturm Graz courtesy of Donyell Malen's strike four minutes from time.

Dusan Vlahovic's second-half penalty cancelled out Jonathan David's opener as Juventus drew 1-1 with Lille.

In the early games, Dinamo Zagreb earned a second consecutive victory in the competition with an emphatic 4-1 win over Slovan Bratislava while PSV picked up their first European win this season with a 4-0 thrashing of Girona.