Buxton: When Pool's Fab Four come together, rivals run helter-skelter

Four lads from Liverpool are once again threatening to shake Europe to its core.

Juergen Klopp has made no secret of his Beatles obsession; he strolled into a pre-match press conference sporting a T-shirt bearing the Fab Four's insignia.

After the Reds' cruising 7-0 win over Spartak Moscow, he now boasts a similarly prolific ensemble of his own.

Yesterday morning (Singapore time), Anfield sent out a warning shot to the rest of the Champions League ahead of Monday's last-16 draw: Bring on Roma, Barcelona or Real Madrid, as the Kop have regularly declared, and they will take them all on.

Out-scored only by Paris Saint-Germain in the continent's elite club competition, few, if any sides, will want to be paired with Klopp's free-scoring team after they reached the Round of 16 for the first time since 2009.

Individually and collectively, Liverpool have proved as harmonious and raucous as their city's most famous export.

In hat-trick hero Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, they have football's very own answer to the Beatles.

Each player offers qualities which are compatible in his own right as well as part of this unstoppable quartet.

Donning the captain's armband, Coutinho spearheaded the rout over Spartak through assertive leadership and creative genius reminiscent of John Lennon.

Mane and Salah continue to share the stage with the Brazilian as unassuming hit-makers that alternate between the Paul McCartney and George Harrison roles while Firmino serves as Anfield's own Ringo Starr; a quirky yet vital component that occasionally steps to the fore.

Like Lennon, however, Coutinho is already threatening to break up the band and go it alone.

Hopes of the playmaker being dissuaded from that path faded a little further with his non-committal to a future on Merseyside.

Barcelona continue to circle for a player who has helped Liverpool surpass their goal tally in all competitions.

He knows it and so does Klopp.

Coutinho would still be wise to consider the cautionary tale of Michael Owen, who believed the grass was greener elsewhere.

In 2004, the English striker walked out on the club that nurtured him from relative obscurity in favour of a solitary season at Real Madrid.

As his former side went all the way in the Champions League, Owen was a mere onlooker.

Fate briefly offered an Anfield reunion before Juventus took Los Blancos' place in the quarter -finals.

Barcelona are unlikely to capitulate to the depths their arch-rivals did during that campaign, going through three managers before finishing four points off the pace in La Liga's title race.

Similarly, their interest in Coutinho will not dissipate beyond the January transfer window.

Liverpool will not catch Manchester City in the EPL title race - no one else will either. But they arguably have a greater shot at Champions League glory.

Klopp's side have shown that they can out-score Europe's biggest and best.

With a defensive record that has been sporadically dotted with clean sheets, it is their best chance of avoiding another empty-handed end to a campaign for a sixth consecutive year.

Liverpool's Fab Four were denied a flying start to the season but they are now belting out one unforgettable performance after another, which will hardly be music to the ears of the Champions League's favourites.