Liverpool beat Manchester City 2-1 in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium.
A goal in the second minute from Gabriel Jesus meant a City revival from the 3-0 Anfield defeat was suddenly on the cards.
However, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino struck in the second half to kill the tie which did serve up an intriguing tactical battle between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
STATS
MANCHESTER CITY
Goals – 1
Shots – 20
Possession – 68%
Tackles – 15
Dribbles – 18
LIVERPOOL
Goals – 2
Shots – 5
Possession – 32%
Tackles – 15
Dribbles – 14
30-SECOND REPORT
Guardiola
City were set up in a 3-4-3 formation with Guardiola taking a leaf out of Gareth Southgate’s book and deploying Kyle Walker on the right side of a three-man central defence. A diamond midfield with Raheem Sterling at its tip dominated the middle of the park while testing Liverpool’s resolve.
It was always a risky game at the back though and a deadly Liverpool attack on the break extinguished any hope of a comeback in the second half.
Klopp
Retaining their preferred 4-3-3 system, Liverpool were perhaps more compact than they’ve been all season – and they needed to be. They struggled to get on the ball for much of the first half but stuck to their guns despite going behind in the second minute.
With City getting more desperate as the game progressed, the Reds were on hand to pounce on any errors and do what they do best – hit on the break.
City had the upper hand in midfield.
TACTICAL TALKING POINTS
Guardiola
OVERLOADING THE FLANKS
With Liverpool naturally more inclined to contain City, Guardiola went with three at the back, outnumbering the visitors in midfield and intelligently overloading the flanks.
Fernandinho was entrusted with anchoring the midfield while Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva were split pretty wide on either side of him, affording them the option to drift into central areas when the space opened up or link-up with Sterling or Sane out wide. They put Liverpool’s young full-backs under pressure in the first half but couldn’t capitalise on the advantage.
Klopp
FRONT THREE PLAY
Salah wasn’t seeing much of the ball out wide and midway through the first half, he moved centrally.
Firmino was key to containing the hosts as he dropped into midfield regularly while defending, leaving Mane and Salah available on the break. The Egyptian focused on getting on the end of final balls and keeping City’s stretched defence occupied, inevitably equalising.
While Liverpool weren’t as aggressive as they were in the first leg, the front three kept up the high press and it paid dividends, leading to the second goal.
Who else? Mohamed Salah.
VERDICT
Guardiola
Credit to the Spaniard for the way he approached the game. His tactics gave his side the best possible chance and they were on the wrong end of a couple of controversial decisions. He loses points for needlessly getting sent to the stands for the second half.
Rating – 6/10
Klopp
Klopp was calm. That was to be expected as his side boasted a 3-0 advantage but it would’ve been easy to get rattled after the early goal. Instead, he only made subtle tweaks to ensure his side retained an attacking threat and waited for City to slip up.
Rating – 7/10