Backed by a hectic 30-minute spell in the first half, Liverpool cruised past Manchester City 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday at Anfield.
This was just the fifth defeat for Man City in all competitions this season. Liverpool is the only side to defeat Pep Guardiola’s side twice, having beaten City 4-3 on Jan. 14.
Here are three thoughts from the match.
Klopp bests Guardiola againThis was the 12th all-time meeting between Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. Klopp now holds a 7-5 advantage, and has won three of five games while in charge of their current sides.
Don't look now, but Klopp has Pep's number. pic.twitter.com/4tX0TP08KA
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 4, 2018
Like the previous matches, Liverpool out-pressed and outran City. Not a single player overcommitted, and they timed their challenges effectively and immediately swept forward. As usual, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino or Mohamed Salah were the main outlets in the final third.
The defence was absolutely stunning as well. Virgil van Dijk was immense at centre-back, Dejan Lovren was composed and not one defender was overzealous. They seldom went to ground, tracked the Man City forwards and restricted the half spaces, thus shutting down City’s midfield connections.
It was a perfectly executed game from Klopp and now he has his team on the brink of its first Champions League semifinal in 10 years.
Guardiola’s gutsy gambleGuardiola set up his side in a 4-2-3-1 with Aymeric Laporte at left-back and one of Ilkay Gundogan or David Silva occasionally drifting to the right. This was done so Man City wasn’t outnumbered in the middle, and so it could fluidly distribute the ball. While defending, Fernandinho dropped deep to make up a five-man defence to restrict space for Liverpool’s front three.
Those efforts were undone after 12 minutes.
Leroy Sane attempted a long cross-field pass which was cut off by Sadio Mane. He laid it back to James Milner, who launched a scintillating through ball towards the onrushing Mohamed Salah. With City pushed up, Salah had plenty of space. He and Roberto Firmino connected before the Egyptian capitalized on a botched clearance by Kyle Walker to open the scoring.
Afterwards, Salah targeted the significantly slower Laporte on Liverpool’s right flank. Vincent Kompany was also reacting slowly, which proves he should not start matches of this magnitude anymore. Additionally, Man City kept forcing passes, Liverpool broke up their midfield combinations and the team lacked width.
Oleksandr Zinchenko would’ve provided more wide play and pace while maintaining the vision that Laporte brought to the side. Raheem Sterling could’ve started as well, because once he checked into the game and City reverted to the 4-3-3, there was more fluidity in midfield, width and calmness. Unfortunately for the Citizens, it was too little, too late.
Guardiola took a risk on Wednesday. Sometimes that bravery pays off. It can also backfire. That is sports. The Spaniard’s thinking was justifiable, but some momentary lapses cost his side.
Alexander-Arnold makes history in emphatic fashionTrent Alexander-Arnold became the youngest Englishman to start a Champions League quarterfinal at just 19 years of age. He was arguably facing his toughest challenge by taking on Sane and Man City, but he was magnificent.
In the opening 10 minutes, there was one instance of an ambitious challenge which Sane easily avoided. Alexander-Arnold recovered and was immense for the remainder of the game. He was constantly in the right position and never overcommitted. He never had to make a significant number of tackles because he wasn’t forced to attempt very many. That’s what happens when a defender is positioned properly.
His build-up play with Salah, Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain was promising as well. Alexander-Arnold picked out some promising passes to launch counter-attacks. Showing that level of composure on the big stage is why Liverpool is excited about his future.
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