A thrilling comeback against Milan: say what you will about Arne Slot, but at least he knows his history. Two minutes into this match, perhaps the first real turning point of the new Liverpool era: defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, followed by an early Christian Pulisic goal that put Milan 1-0 up. So, how are your nerves?

Quite solid, it turned out. Aided by some shaky Milan defending, Liverpool spent the next 88 minutes methodically picking apart the seven-time champions on their own turf: not always fluently and not always clinically, but with an encouraging directness and, above all, an instinctive calm.

Liverpool were happy to have the ball. They were happy not to have the ball. They didn’t dwell on their missed chances, they just created more. And of course it helps when your opponents have the structural integrity of a puri, which allowed Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk to score free headers from set pieces to put Liverpool ahead.

Dominik Szoboszlai completed the scoring in the second half, answering Slot’s pleas for more goals from midfield. But perhaps the most notable performances came from Cody Gakpo on the left flank and Ryan Gravenberch in midfield. Gakpo was a total menace: unpredictable in his movement, unstoppable on the ball, cutting Milan to pieces with his forward drives.

Gravenberch, meanwhile, was at the heart of Liverpool’s comeback and continued his strong start to the season, winning the ball deep, winning it high and playing some delightful early passes to take the momentum away from the home side.

Even then, Milan’s early goal felt like an anomaly, almost surreal in its ease and lack of intensity, as Álvaro Morata collected a goal kick with his first touch and turned it around for Pulisic, also taking his first touch. And to be fair, Pulisic still had plenty to do at this point. But, as Liverpool will reflect when they debrief this goal, probably not enough. Kostas Tsimikas was nowhere to be found, Konaté couldn’t get near enough, and Pulisic could simply run in and bury the ball into the bottom corner.

And maybe a collective misstep like this against better opponents would be enough to lose you the game. But Liverpool always had enough gears to spare, and Milan simply aren’t good enough or disciplined enough to manage situations like this. “A team that doesn’t move as a team,” was the great Arrigo Sacchi’s damning verdict on a team that has just one win in its first four Serie A games, and looks disjointed and lackluster under new coach Paulo Fonseca. So once the initial wave of euphoria had subsided, Liverpool could simply settle in, pick their passes, pick their moments.

Konaté made amends with a headed equaliser in the 23rd minute, Trent Alexander-Arnold with a free kick from the left, Mike Maignan coming through but not getting close, Konaté enjoying a free run. In between, Mohamed Salah hit the crossbar twice, Diogo Jota stabbed the ball wide from a position you swear he was going to score, and Maignan made smart saves from Salah and Cody Gakpo, who took advantage of an early yellow card for Davide Calabria and turned the left wing into his personal command centre.

Here, on the open fields of San Siro, the space that had been so elusive against Nottingham Forest was now in abundance. Certainly in the corner that led to Van Dijk’s goal just before half-time. Here too it was elemental, both in concept and execution: a brief preparatory tussle with fellow Dutch international Tijjani Reijnders, and then a sudden jerk in the opposite direction, meeting Tsimikas’ corner with a header from four yards out.

The most frustrating thing about all this was that Milan are actually a pretty good side to watch in full swing: a flawed and dangerous team built largely from youngsters, old pros and players you vaguely remember playing for Chelsea. Morata, signed from Atlético Madrid last summer, is a smarter and far stronger striker than many give him credit for. Meanwhile, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is effectively the same player at 28 as he was at 20, Fikayo Tomori was probably the best option for a weak defensive line and Tammy Abraham made a late cameo as a substitute.

By then the game was over. At times it looked as if Milan would hold on, dig deep and make Liverpool sweat a little. But an injury to Maignan (who bravely dove at Jota’s feet) robbed Milan of their star player, and soon teenage debutant Lorenzo Torriani picked the ball out of his net after a counter-attacking run from Gakpo and a fine finish from Szoboszlai.

The match ended in a calm atmosphere, with a fleeting debut for Federico Chiesa and Salah in a manic “I have to score” mode.

With goal difference likely to be a factor in this crowded 36-team league, it might not have been so bad. But it finished 3-1, and as a reminder of their own effortless class, it was a pretty good one.