All eyes may have been on Samara, but there was another perfect result for an English team as Liverpool ran riot in their pre-season opener against Chester.
A brace in each half from Harry Wilson and Daniel Sturridge allowed Jurgen Klopp's side to cruise to an impressive victory at a fairly full Deva Stadium.
A James Milner penalty and beautiful curling efforts by Ryan Kent and Danny Ings made it a bumper afternoon of entertainment for loyal fans in the North West.
Naby Keita and Fabinho both made their first appearances in a Liverpool shirt and missed good chances to figure on the score sheet in otherwise fine performances.
Loris Karius started for the first time after his Champions League final nightmare six weeks ago and made a couple of solid saves before coming off at the break.
There were also important minutes for James Milner and Daniel Sturridge as the ex-England stars look to maintain their fitness ahead of the new season.
Next up for the Reds is another local test at Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday.
Full-time: Chester 0-7 Liverpool
This result won’t exactly go down in history, but it’s the perfect start to pre-season for Liverpool.
Two braces, two debuts, seven goals: Jurgen Klopp would have got exactly what he wanted from their first outing of the season.
And Reds skipper Jordan Henderson had a good game for England against Sweden.
Goal! Sturridge gets seventh!
It’s a beauty as well!
Daniel Sturridge picks it up 25 yards out and swings a shot inside of the left post.
The injury-riddled striker is back!
Goal! Ings makes it six!
Danny Ings ends a relative lull for Liverpool!
It’s a lovely move as Andy Robertson bisects the Chester defence and James Milner back-heels it to the former Burnley man.
The scoreline is pretty joyous already, but Ings can only get better for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Naby Keita has been quite quiet in his first game as a Liverpool player.
He’s operating deep in the midfield four and the Reds are cruising.
He slips past a couple of defenders but skies a shot over the bar.
The match has settled down a little now in Chester.
Andy Robertson curls a free-kick wide.
Daniel Sturridge is looking very sharp, though.
Goal! Kent Screamer!
Oldham-born Ryan Kent scores the pick of the bunch, curling perfectly into the top corner.
It has been all Liverpool in the second period.
Chester have to regain their composure in order to retain their pride.
Goal! Sturridge finds fourth!
Goal for England! And Liverpool!
Sidelined Lion Daniel Sturridge with a cool finish in the heat.
Eighteen months ago, he would have been nailed on for the World Cup squad. Now he’s wrapped things up against Chester.
Goal! Milner penalty!
Liverpool have a penalty almost immediately after kick-off.
Sheyi Ojo is hauled down by goalkeeper Grant Shenton, helpless to defend a Daniel Sturridge through ball. He probably deserved to a red, to be honest.
James Milner expertly side-foots it into the right corner.
We’re back under way in the big one.
Naby Keita has come on for his Liverpool debut - he’ll be up against 17-year-old Cain Noble.
James Milner is captaining the new-look line-up.
Loris Karius watch
“The was the same nervous look back that we saw in Kiev, but this time the ball landed on the top of the net rather than dropping into it.
“But then that was Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy, and this was Jordan Archer at Chester’s Deva Stadium. That was the Champions “League final, and this was the first pre-season friendly of the summer.
“But there was a huge sigh of relief from Loris Karius when, just eight minutes into his first return to a football pitch since *that* night in the Ukrainian capital, he stood up to the onrushing Archer and got a foot to his low effort, deflecting it up and onto the top of the net.”
Mark Jones was following the Liverpool No1 in the first half.
Half-time: Chester 0-2 Liverpool
It’s looking good so far for the boys in Red.
Can they hold it together against the underdogs for another 45 minutes?
If you’re at a wedding instead of this particular encounter, I think you can cope.
Goal! Wilson again!
The Welsh wonder strikes again just before half-time!
Homegrown teenager Curtis Jones - just 17 years of age - plays a slick pass through to Harry Wilson who slots home his second in seven minutes.
Chester haven’t made it easy for Liverpool but their quality is showing.
Goal! Harry Wilson!
21-year-old winger Harry Wilson is yet to make his competitive debut for Liverpool but he bags a lovely goal in their pre-season opener.
Alberto Moreno makes one of his regular forays in behind the right-back and finds Wilson, who unfurls a fantastic lofted finish.
Kane, Maguire, Wilson: all the Harrys are scoring at the moment.
Not something you usually see on the touchline...
The whole Liverpool subs bench are warming up at once.
It’s all change at half-time, remember...
Meanwhile... England are 1-0 up against Sweden from a Harry Maguire header.
Huge cheers around the ground as the goal is announced.
Even Jurgen Klopp can’t help sneaking a smile.
Liverpool have been moving the ball better since the brief break but they can’t quite get over the line.
New signing Fabinho comes incredibly close to a debut goal, hammering he post from the edge of the box.
Divock Origi is flagged for offside from the rebound.
Grant Shenton gets down well to deny Divock Origi.
The Belgian forward should have done better there.
There was almost a Chester own-goal from he resulting corner.
The players have stopped for a drinks break after the 20-minute mark.
I imagine the managers are updating their payers on how England are getting on.
It’s 28 degrees in Chester, in case you were wondering.
Liverpool have a free-kick in prime position.
Alberto Moreno hooks it into no man’s land, however.
The game has been bogged down in midfield of late.
Dominic Solanke has a scuffed effort blocked.
It was a good save by Grant Shenton off the ex-Chelsea youngster.
Nathaniel Clyne played a superb ball to set up the opportunity.
Loris Karius is back.
The German goalkeeper shows the first sign of shaking off his Champions League nightmare with a solid stop.
Jordan Archer was through on goal but Karius kicks his strike up over the bar.
Nothing much doing so far on a sunny afternoon in the North West.
Liverpool are happy to pass the ball around at the back.
Nathaniel Clyne comes closest in the first five minutes but drags his cross wide.
Kick-off!
We’re underway at the Deva Stadium!
Nothing like a Saturday three o’clock kick-off...
Football is definitely coming home if you’re a Chester fan.
Chester get ready
Chester players are being put through their paces ahead of the game.
The Blues will be hoping to give a good account of themselves against the Reds.
Chester begin their National League campaign on August 4.
Reds check in
Liverpool team news
Naby Keita and Fabinho will both make their debuts as Jurgen Klopp opts to start one of his new signings in each half.
Loris Karius is back in goal following his Champions League final howlers while James Milner and Daniel Sturridge will feature after the break.
Adam Lallana is not involved due to illness. Will he be following his Liverpool or England team-mates come three o’clock?
Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum haven’t reported back to training yet and Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren and Roberto Firmino are all still involved in the World Cup quarter-finals as is Simon Mignolet.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are enjoying some time off after their exertions in Russia.
Who else could be moving to Anfield?
Dejan Lovren’s Croatia team-mate Domagoj Vida could be joining him at Liverpool after reports that the Reds have lodged a bid for the Besiktas star.
The Croatia defender is enjoying a fine World Cup in Russia and Liverpool have supposedly seen enough to offer the Turkish club £12m for the 29-year-old, report Turkish outlet Aksam.
Vida only moved to Besiktas in January after a five-year spell with Dynamo Kiev.
But the chance to join Lovren at Anfield could be too tough to resist, though Besiktas remain in a strong bargaining position with four years remaining on his contract.
Five things to look out for this afternoon
What do you mean there’s another game on Saturday at 3 o’clock?
As far as Liverpool fans will be concerned all eyes will be on Chester’s Deva Stadium at the weekend as the Reds’ pre-season campaign gets underway at Chester City, and although they’ll be missing their World Cup stars they will still be taking a strong squad.
Jurgen Klopp will be running the rule over a couple of new additions, some old faces and some exciting youngsters as the Reds get their preparations for 2018/19 off and running, but who are the key men and storylines for fans to keep an eye on?
Mirror Football has found five things to look out for (if you’re keen enough to be watching).
Karius' KO shocker
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says Loris Karius was still clearly suffering from concussion five days after May’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.
High-profile errors from Karius contributed to goals from Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in the Reds’ 3-1 defeat in Kiev , with the German goalkeeper pilloried both in the press and by fans after the game.
However, in the days that followed, a US doctor indicated that Karius had suffered a blow to the head from a collision with Sergio Ramos just two minutes before Real’s opening goal, and that resulted in a concussion.
And while Klopp is refusing to use the incident as an excuse, he does insist that it explains the mistakes.
“With all the intensity of the game, adrenaline and the disappointment after the game, nobody really thought about that [the concussion],” Klopp told the Liverpool website .
“I needed a few days, to be honest, to accept the fact and deal with the situation [of losing the final]. It was not that easy.
“After four days I got a call from Franz Beckenbauer, our Bobby Moore, our biggest football player who is a good friend of mine. He called me and said he came from a doctor, he told me: ‘your goalkeeper had a concussion.’
“I said, ‘what?’ because in the game, from my position that situation is not very good to see: ‘maybe there was contact or not.’ I told him immediately, ‘OK’. He said the doctor is the most famous doctor in Germany. I said: ‘OK, give me a few minutes, I have to fix a few things.’
“I got all the pictures from different perspectives, saw it and thought: ‘how can we all think that the boy who didn’t show any weakness in that game until then made these big mistakes in a very important game and nobody thinks it’s because of the knock he got?’ How can we think that? That was, for me, the explanation and I thought: ‘OK, come on, we need to check that.’
“I thought it was too late, you cannot check that. But now I know a concussion isn’t coming and going in a day – if you have one, you see it days later. Five days after the final, Loris had 26 of 30 markers for a concussion still. That’s clear.”