On a day when one world-class German manager was ruthlessly sacked, another saw his untouchable status suffer arguably its most damaging night yet.
Chelsea's decision to part company with Thomas Tuchel just 16 months after he led them to Champions League glory was met with widespread shock and condemnation, and there is no chance of Jurgen Klopp suffering the same fate as his compatriot in the immediate or foreseeable future.
However, just as a humbling European defeat proved to be the final nail in Tuchel's coffin at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool's humiliating 4-1 loss to Napoli last night - their joint-heaviest ever Champions League defeat - raised more questions than ever about the team's direction following a poor start to the season.
Indeed, Klopp even found himself questioned about whether he feared for his future during the post-match press conference, something which would have been unthinkable just a month ago for a man who has dragged Liverpool from mid-table mediocrity to winning every major honour available to him.
Fortunately for Klopp, his players and just about every Liverpool fan, it is a concept which remains unthinkable for the club's owners, although such is the nature of modern football that his job might actually be under threat were he at a different club, despite having penned a new four-year contract earlier this year.
There was, however, a particularly notable comment in his post-match interview with BT Sport, when the 55-year-old suggested that Liverpool needed to "reinvent" themselves following their slow start to the campaign.
The Reds have had low points before under Klopp - an eighth-placed finish at the end of his first season in charge, a 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa and a run of six successive home defeats all immediately come to mind - yet, throughout all of those nadirs, Klopp never wavered from his unflinching belief in his style of football.
The German has always remained steadfast in his view that the high-risk high line which is a hallmark of his side pays off far more than not, even when that strategy has been partial to the odd punishment.
It is something he can argue with complete justification considering Liverpool's success in recent years too, but the fact that his side have now conceded the first goal in 11 of their last 12 league and Champions League games - the only exception being the 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth - suggests that the risk is now being punished more than it is yielding rewards at the other end.
Such a run of slow starts is inexplicable for a team that built much of their success by bursting out of the blocks themselves and blowing teams away early on.
Of the 11 opening goals they have conceded in their last 12 matches - discounting the two goalless draws in that time - nine have been shipped in the first half, six have been let in in the opening 16 minutes, and incredibly four have been conceded inside the opening five minutes.
To be finding yourself 1-0 down inside five minutes of 33% of matches - and trailing at some point in 92% of their recent matches overall - is simply not sustainable and gives any team, no matter how good they are, a mountain to climb from the off if they are to keep up the type of relentless winning form that Premier League success demands nowadays.
Manner of defeat is most concerning
It is important to keep things in perspective, of course. This is still a team that has lost just one Premier League game throughout the calendar year, got to three cup finals including the Champions League last season - winning two of those - and also finished second in the table with the eighth-highest points tally in Premier League history.
In isolation, losing in Naples is nothing to be ashamed of, nor nothing new for Klopp, who has done so on his last four visits to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Even the scoreline - which actually flattered Liverpool - can be forgiven despite it being their joint-heaviest in the Champions League; throughout Klopp's tenure there have been occasional matches during which his high-risk defensive strategy has been brutally punished, and such one-off results are a by-product of the style which has brought such success.
However, it was the manner of the defeat last night that made it such a Neopolitan nightmare, and the fact that this time it was not a one-off below-par performance.
Liverpool may have only lost twice in all competitions this season, but they have also only won twice, and their performances in draws with Fulham, Crystal Palace and Everton - even in their win against Newcastle United - were far from convincing.
The intensity, pressing, desire and heavy metal style which were hallmarks of Klopp's Liverpool now seem to have deserted them, and one of the most damning statistics surrounding Liverpool's start to the campaign is that they have now been outrun for a seventh successive game.
Klopp has regularly referred to his team as "mentality monsters", but they were more like mice last night as Napoli ripped into them from the very first minute, showing the sort of intensity we are used to seeing and admiring in Liverpool themselves.
