There are certain footballers who make you fall in love with the game all over again.

Florian Wirtz is one of them.

And on Thursday night, with Jürgen Klopp watching from the Germany dugout, Liverpool’s £116million playmaker produced the sort of performance that made his arrival at Anfield feel so exciting in the first place.

Germany beat Serbia 2-0 in Munich, with Wirtz involved in both goals, but the result almost felt secondary to the reminder of what he can do when confidence and instinct take over.

For Klopp, it was his first victory as Germany head coach.

For Wirtz, it was an evening that felt particularly significant.

Because this was not simply about scoring a goal.

It was about looking like himself.

Germany’s opener in the 39th minute began with a moment of individual brilliance.

Wirtz received possession inside the penalty area, shifted past two Serbian defenders with astonishingly quick feet and managed to get a shot away despite the congestion around him.

The effort struck the post.

Tom Bischof reacted quickest to the rebound and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

It was Bischof who received the goal, but Wirtz had created the opportunity almost entirely himself.

There was something wonderfully instinctive about the move.

No hesitation. No overthinking. Just a player recognising a tiny opening and trusting his ability to exploit it.

That is the Wirtz Liverpool supporters have been waiting to see consistently.

His second-half goal was even better.

Wirtz helped Germany progress the ball through midfield before releasing Maximilian Mittelstädt on the left.

The defender carried forward and returned possession to Wirtz around the edge of the penalty area.

What followed was exquisite.

Wirtz killed the ball with his first touch, used a backheel feint to wrong-foot Nemanja Gudelj and calmly guided his finish beyond goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović.

It was technically brilliant, but the confidence was what made it special.

Wirtz was playing on instinct.

He was demanding possession, manipulating defenders and taking responsibility for Germany’s attacking play.

There was no sense of a player hiding from the occasion or allowing previous criticism to affect his decision-making.

He looked entirely comfortable being the difference.

There was an obvious emotional element to the evening.

Klopp, whose Liverpool side once made Anfield feel like a place where footballers could become something greater than the sum of their parts, is now responsible for Germany.

Wirtz is one of the players around whom that national team can be built.

Their relationship is still in its infancy, but Thursday offered a glimpse of what Klopp wants from him: freedom to create, responsibility in possession and the confidence to attempt things that other players would not even consider.

There is something rather lovely about Klopp being the man to oversee an evening like this.

Liverpool supporters know what his football can look like when everything connects.

And watching Wirtz produce those moments under him inevitably brings back memories of the kind of attacking expression that defined Klopp’s best Liverpool teams.

It would be wrong to suggest one international performance proves that Wirtz needs Klopp to succeed.

But it is fair to say that Klopp has given him an environment in which his qualities were immediately visible.

This is where the performance becomes relevant to Liverpool.

Wirtz has already shown flashes of his quality since arriving at Anfield.

His pass to release Bradley Barcola against Atletico Madrid was a reminder of the vision and weight of delivery that make him so dangerous.

There have also been quieter performances, including at Bournemouth, where his influence was limited and criticism followed.

That criticism is not automatically unfair.

Liverpool need more decisive contributions from a player of his ability and reputation.

But there is a difference between demanding more from Wirtz and questioning whether the player Liverpool signed is still there.

Thursday was a reminder that he is.

The quick feet against Serbia’s defence, the movement around the box, the willingness to take responsibility and the quality of his finishing were all familiar.

Liverpool do not need to discover a new Florian Wirtz.

They need to find ways of making the existing one more influential in their own system.

That is a collective responsibility, involving Iraola, the players around him and Wirtz himself.

Klopp’s first win matters, but Wirtz’s performance matters more

Germany needed this result.

After drawing with the Netherlands and losing to Greece, Klopp was under pressure to deliver a response.

His side did so with a performance that offered greater attacking fluency and a deserved two-goal victory.

But for Liverpool, the most encouraging development was seeing Wirtz look so comfortable at the centre of it.

The international break has already produced plenty of discussion around his form, his confidence and the expectations attached to his price tag.

This was a welcome interruption to that noise.

Not because one good night erases the need for improvement, but because it reminds us why Liverpool invested so heavily in him.

Wirtz is a footballer capable of producing moments that change the entire feeling of a match.

He did it twice against Serbia.

And there was something fitting about Klopp being the man on the touchline as he did so.

Liverpool supporters have spent the opening weeks of the season waiting for their new playmaker to take a game by the scruff of the neck.

On Thursday, he did exactly that.

Now the challenge is bringing that version of Florian Wirtz back to Anfield.