It was outside the ground that the window of Manchester City's team bus was smashed by missiles thrown by Liverpool supporters, but it was inside Anfield that the wheels of the Citizens' Champions League hopes came tumbling off as they were condemned to a 3-0 defeat by the Reds.
It was scintillating football from Liverpool in the first 45 minutes of this quarter-final first leg as Mohamed Salah once again struck to open the scoring, with further goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mané all but wrapping up the contest for the evening.
After a blistering first period Jürgen Klopp's men began to shut up shop from the beginning of the second period, but City failed to break down their opponents leaving them with it all to do going to the Etihad Stadium next week.
Salah strikes again
Another significant European night arrived at Anfield which showed in the pre-match build-up which seemed to get slightly out of hand, but what was on the pitch that mattered and with their previous meetings this season it was set to be quite the contest. Liverpool were the conquerors in their last meeting, and they came flying out of the traps early on as Salah once again stepped up to the mark.
It was a typical counter-attack from Liverpool in the 12th minute as Salah beat the offside trap as he slid it through into the feet of Roberto Firmino whose effort was initially saved by Ederson, it came out to the feet of Kyle Walker who seemed to panic as Firmino managed to push it through to Salah who made no mistake from 10 yards for his 38th goal of an incredible season.
It was an almost instantaneous response from the Citizens as the Liverpool defence seemed to have a lapse in concentration as they held off against Leroy Sané. The space allowed the German to set himself up to have a crack at goal but his effort curled just wide of the target.
Hitting it home with some style
Despite the chance from Sané Liverpool continued to go from gear to gear as the minutes progressed, and they couldn't have asked for a better way to create some breathing space with their excellent second goal.
It was prompted by a former City man as James Milner did well to regain possession and push the ball into the feet of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who took aim from 25 yards and his sublime effort gave Ederson no chance as it nestled into the bottom corner.
In complete ecstasy
Home players and fans alike would have been on cloud nine considering their blistering start but it would have doubled as they managed to add a third ten minutes later, Salah turned provider as his initial blocked effort presented him with the perfect crossing chance with as his curling effort found the head of Mané to turn home from eight yards out.
As much as the first period showed Liverpool's attacking capabilities the second period showed their increasing defensive strength, as they managed to produce the rarity of City failing to muster a single shot on target.