On Wednesday, Liverpool’s weakest links were indiscernible from its high-flying stars.

The Reds stunned Manchester City 3-0 at Anfield in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, and amid the goal-scoring exploits of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were stellar performances from Jurgen Klopp’s supporting cast.

Related: Early blitz hands Liverpool commanding lead over City

Trent Alexander-Arnold

There’s a reason that Klopp made a beeline for Trent Alexander-Arnold at the final whistle. The local boy – who’s just 19 years old – looked like a melange of Cafu and Javier Zanetti against City, and for a player who’s occasionally received criticism for positional awareness, Alexander-Arnold was class. The England youth international repeatedly snuffed out Leroy Sane’s probing attacks, making four tackles, seven interceptions, and 10 clearances. Anfield has a new hero.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Forget the redundant comparisons to his time at Arsenal, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is now playing the most inspired football of his career. So, when he latched onto a rocket of a pass from James Milner to beat a helpless Ederson from distance, it was deserved. Tasked with filling out a three-man midfield alongside Milner and Jordan Henderson, The Ox was stunning, completing 90 percent of his passes and four dribbles going forward, with three tackles, two successful aerial duels, and three key interceptions in a effective two-way role.

Related – Watch: Liverpool stuns Manchester City with 30-minute trio

James Milner

Here’s a list of the last three players to record seven or more assists in a Champions League campaign: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, James Milner. Thrusted into the starting XI, perhaps because Gini Wijnaldum was quite ordinary on the weekend, or perhaps because Milner’s near-robotic efficiency is the staple of a successful European competitor, the 32-year-old was businesslike in assisting Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal while throwing in five tackles, four clearances, and three interceptions. Decent outing, that.

Andrew Robertson

What a pleasant surprise Andrew Robertson has been. Lured to Anfield in the summer from Hull City for a modest £8-million fee, the Scot has been one of the Premier League’s best full-backs, and on Wednesday, his form carried over to the Champions League. A veritable threat going forward with a penchant for an early pinpoint cross, Robertson, 24, negated Ilkay Gundogan and combined well with Milner while making four tackles and eight clearances for good measure. Manchester City offered nothing in wide positions, and Robertson and companion Alexander-Arnold deserve heaps of praise.

Pep Guardiola’s tactical innovations have changed the landscape of English football in less than two years, and Manchester City in full flight presents a convincing case as the best side since the Premier League began in 1992.

But against Liverpool on Wednesday, the Spaniard got it drastically wrong.

With half an hour played, Nicolas Otamendi took it upon himself to surge up the park with the ball at his feet. There were colleagues available, and there should’ve been a nagging consideration that he isn’t Franz Beckenbauer, but the Argentinian let the ball bobble away and into James Milner’s reach. Around 15 seconds later, Sadio Mane headed past Ederson to make it 3-0.

The goal was emblematic of how City performed in the opening stanza; positional disarray, an inability to sensibly swipe space, and rushing in possession blighted the work of the visitor, and Guardiola’s tactics must take most of the blame for a considerable first-leg defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The biggest omission was that of Raheem Sterling. The 23-year-old has scored 21 times this season – the same number as his previous two terms combined – but was sacrificed for Ilkay Gundogan. A popular assumption was that the change was intended to bulk up the midfield – something that should raise questions given the last time City started with Fernandinho, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Gundogan in the middle was its awful beginning to the League Cup final against Arsenal in February. There could also be an argument that Sterling was left out because of how he flounders under the scrutiny of Reds fans following his controversial 2015 switch.

Whatever it was that encouraged Guardiola to shuffle his pack – a misguided tactical call or being overly concerned about protecting Sterling – it knocked everything off balance.

The midfield crumpled in on itself, with only Fernandinho assuming a distinct position and the other three ineffectually milling around in a shape that often resembled a distorted diamond. Gundogan was especially weak, making just 48 touches before he was substituted after 56 minutes.

With the 4-3-3 inexplicably set aside, Leroy Sane also cut a confused figure in a lopsided attack. He wasn’t a winger, a strike partner to Gabriel Jesus, or a No. 10, and his clear bewilderment facilitated Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best appearance for Liverpool in his young career. With only Sane struggling nearby and no support on his right, Jesus’ involvement was restricted to six passes in the first half – three of which were from kick-off – and he spearheaded a side that wasn’t able to record a shot on target throughout the tie.

If Bernardo Silva was Sterling’s replacement, the 4-3-3 schematic would have been maintained, and the latter would’ve been spared the abuse that he often cowers under. Instead, City’s unfamiliar formation was ruffled by Liverpool.

There were obviously issues in defence, and most of them centred around the decision to field Aymeric Laporte on the left of a back-four. Mohamed Salah is best dealt with by a right-footer at left-back; that way, he isn’t running onto the weaker side of a full-back when he cuts in. City had a ready-made player for that role in Danilo. With Danilo on the left-hand side, Laporte would’ve then been the go-to ball-playing centre-half, thereby culling Otamendi’s intermittent habit of spreading diagonal balls onto the laps of spectators in the first row. Few City representatives left Anfield with any credit, but Otamendi was handed too much trust and, as a result, challenged Gundogan and Sane as his team’s worst player.

There’s a slight hope that this tie is salvageable, but Guardiola’s plan will have to be exemplary in the reverse fixture next Tuesday. However, from the evidence of the opening tie between these two teams, Jurgen Klopp may have his counterpart’s number.