I spotted Liverpool legend on flight to Milan and it shows one thing won't change about Champions League

With the opener of Liverpool's Champions League campaign coinciding with Milan fashion week, it was difficult to guess exactly why the usually so sartorially elegant Daniel Sturridge was flying into Italy on Monday morning with a suit bag as part of his luggage.

But given the former Reds striker had stripped back his usually flamboyant and eclectic style for the more demure choice of an oversized grey hoody, baggy black combat trousers and a pair of Adidas trainers, it was clear Sturridge was at least out to stay incognito for his early-morning trip.

With 67 goals across a stellar Anfield career that saw him lift the Champions League in 2019, Sturridge was used to giving defenders the slip during his time at the club and he performed a similarly impressive job of evading the legions of Reds fans on board the 10:35am out of Manchester airport too.

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Sat at the very back of the flight, the hood-up-and-head-down approach worked wonders, even when disembarking alongside a number of particularly boisterous supporters who were clearly keen to soak up the next couple of days of seeing their team being back in the Champions League.

But, alas, even the very best centre-forwards cannot always escape detection inside a crowded penalty area and Sturridge was eventually collared in the passport queue by fans keen to wish the ex-England international well. Sturridge was in good spirits as he chatted with those in the queue with him before shuffling off for what is thought to be TV punditry duty for one of the major broadcasters.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the club's proud European heritage, Liverpool's trip to Milan is their first Champions League fixture for 18 months - since they were beaten 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid in March 2023 - but at least it is a fixture befitting of the tournament itself.

“It's always a special moment whenever I lead out the boys so Tuesday won't be any different," says captain Virgil van Dijk. "It is always amazing to be playing in the Champions League.

“I missed it. I can't wait to be out there hearing the Champions League tune and leading out the boys. A club like Liverpool needs to be in the Champions League and we are finally back and let's go out there and put a much better performance in than we did [against Nottingham Forest] as it is needed otherwise you are going to have an issue."

The Rossoneri may not be the Milan vintage of the 1990s or mid-2000s, but this is a fixture that will always conjure up images of the most famous night in Liverpool's storied history. The result of the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul will be remembered for its 20-year anniversary next May and for all the joyous iconography of events at the Ataturk Stadium from Liverpool's perspective, it remains a dark stain on the proud history of the locals in this part of the world.

"For everyone connected with Milan, May 25, 2005 will go down the day the world went mad," legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko once remarked. "I would wake up in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat. I would scream in my sleep. For three long months, I was a hostage to Istanbul."

"That match is part of destiny, of things that cannot be explained," Hernando Crespo has also previously said. "Even today I cannot believe it."

Of course, the replays of that famous night will be dusted off in the build-up to this one but for Arne Slot, a head coach whose matter-of-fact pragmatism is starting to become something of a calling-card at Anfield, the result of that particular match will be of little relevance.

Liverpool's most recent visit to the San Siro for a game with Milan was back in December 2021 when a much-changed team who had already qualified from what was supposed to be 'the Group Death' beat their hosts 2-1 to become the first English side to win all six of their group fixtures.

It was a game that is perhaps best remembered for Nat Phillips's remarkably cool turn inside his own penalty area to bamboozle Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among others, but the revamped nature of the Champions League, coupled with the fact that it is the first match-day of the season, should provide some added intensity and jeopardy that was largely absent nearly three years ago.

It's difficult to know how managers will approach the new-look European Cup given the well-worn strategy of trying to get as close to 12 points as early as possible in the groups to allow an easing off for the final game or two. Now, with the Reds set to come up against three domestic champions in Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven, an iconic name like Milan, emerging sides like Girona, Lille and seasoned-campaigners RB Leipzig, the strategy could be very different at Anfield.

One thing that won't change, however, is the romanticism attached to a fixture like AC Milan vs Liverpool. With 13 European Cups between them, it's enough to bring out the good and great to one of the genuine cathedrals of the European game. Just ask Daniel Sturridge.