The Pep Guardiola friendly media in Catalonia are still a bit confused as to how Liverpool managed to overrun their special one’s Manchester City in the way they did.
Sport on Friday, two days after the game, give their readers five reasons why the Cityzens crumbled in front of Jürgen Klopp’s side, making the return leg at the Etihad a very difficult task.
First was the fact that Liverpool had been waiting 10 years for this, once again in the Champions League quarter finals.
The atmosphere at Anfield was heated, and Jürgen Klopp’s men used it to their advantage early, as Mohamed Salah grabbed the game’s first goal early on.
Then came the second key moment: Leroy Sané’s miss.
The German forward had the ability to make it 1-1, but his inability to find the back of the net gave Liverpool the momentum they needed, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hammering home the second soon after.
Sané’s error ‘weighed’ on the Manchester City’s players’ minds, which in turn caused them to make mistakes, as seen in the third goal and leads to Sport’s third point.
How Mané managed score a header when marked by Vincent Kompany is a question for the ages, but it happened.
The fourth point is simple: Mohamed Salah.
His mere presence on the pitch gave Anfield the boost they needed, and Aymeric Laporte, charged to deal with him at left-back, did all he could, but it just wasn’t enough.
Sport’s fifth and final key to the crumble is Manchester City’s inability to have a shot on target, the first time this has happened since October 2016.
That one’s self explanatory.
Both managers have agreed the tie is far from over, as Manchester City have the firepower to turn it around, but it will take a considerable effort both in attack and defence to pull it off.
The last time the two sides met at the Etihad? Pep Guardiola’s side won 5-0.
