A superhuman first-half display by rampant Liverpool earned a brilliant 3-0 victory against shell-shocked Manchester City to make them strong favourites to proceed in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The rampant Premier League leaders – just like in January’s solitary top-flight defeat – wilted at Anfield. Egypt forward Mohamed Salah slotted in a 12th-minute opener after a defensive shambles, England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lashed in from 25 yards soon after and Senegal forward Sadio Mane headed in to round off the scoring just past the half-hour mark.
This result leaves City with a mountain to climb in next week’s decider.
NO PEP FROM GUARDIOLA
It feels sacrilegious to chastise a tactical genius like Pep Guardiola. Yet the Spaniard got it wrong at Anfield. Potentially terminally.
On Wednesday night, his new 4-2-3-1 formation was unfit for purpose. Strangely, he chose to line-up with Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne for the first time since an uncharacteristically poor first-half display was put in during February’s eventual 3-0 victory against Arsenal in the League Cup final.
Gundogan was a spare part that Liverpool preyed upon. He did nothing in his pocket out on the right, also being chopped through by the brilliant James Milner in the build-up to Liverpool’s second.
Terminal problems in possession also hamstrung them at the back. Neither Vincent Kompany or Nicolas Otamendi were comfortable enough to pass beyond the choking press.
Oddest of all, only former Liverpool villain Raheem Sterling was called from the substitutes’ bench despite the disaster unfolding.
That this was City’s first match without a shot on target in 18 months points further to an extreme tactical failure.
It is not like Guardiola went in blind. He boldly predicted before the game: “I know the way we play is perfect for Liverpool.”
He can’t say there was no warning.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 4, 2018
SANE HAS A SHOCKER
Germany winger Leroy Sane wasn’t alone among the disappointing men in light blue.
England right-back Kyle Walker committed at least two defensive mistakes for the opener, Gundogan looked lost and even Belgium orchestrator De Bruyne put in just one key pass.
But Sane’s awful performance was the most jarring.
With dewy-eyed Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold badly exposed by Manchester United last month, Guardiola decided to pick at this apparent weakness.
Sane, admittedly not helped by unadventurous auxiliary left-back Aymeric Laporte, hamstrung this plan with a rare off night in a fine season that had previously delivered 13 goals in 41 games. In total, 49 per cent of their play went down that side – with nothing to show for it.
He turned an attacking corner into Mohamed Salah’s 12th-minute opener with an idiotic pass in centre midfield, had two off-target shots, no accurate crosses, no key passes and strayed clumsily offside when Gabriel Jesus put the ball in the net late on.
Only five days before, Sane had scored a fine goal across Stanley Park at Everton. A repeat was not on the cards.
Leroy Sane frustrated throughout on Wednesday night.
NOT EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE
The adage goes that you can’t buy experience.
For all the transformative power of City Football Group’s revolutionary £1 billion+ (Dh5.2bn) investment since 2008, this match bore out the phrase.
None of the starting players at Anfield have won the Champions League.
The club have only made the quarter-finals of the competition once before. Paris Saint-Germain were their victims in 2015/16.
City have now lost 16 of their last 22 meetings at the home of the Reds. Their previous victory came a generation ago in May 2003 when current striker Gabriel Jesus was just five-years-old.
The influence of the fabled ‘Anfield Roar’ is up for debate. What cannot be questioned is how this current City bunch shrunk on Wednesday night.
Would more seasoned heads have prevailed? This is an issue that will come into greater focus if, somehow, they roar through at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
On ability alone, there is no disparity to likely semi-final qualifiers Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
A vast chasm exists in mentality.
0 - Manchester City failed to direct a single shot on target in a game for the first time since 26th October 2016 (v Man Utd in the League Cup). Blunt.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 4, 2018
