City were the favourites to win this all-English Champions League quarter-final tie, but again they melted amid the sweltering atmosphere of Anfield, which more than lived up to its reputation for unforgettable European nights.
The hosts were fired up long before kick-off and the drama began when the two team buses arrived at the stadium. Liverpool’s coach was greeted with chants of ‘Allez Allez’ and billowing red smoke which galvanised their players, while City’s was met with flying bottles which smashed the door.
Liverpool came flying out of the blocks on the pitch and blitzed Guardiola’s side, with Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane all scoring with barely half-an-hour gone, comfortably seeing out the 3-0 win. The Reds also prevailed at the Etihad Stadium, winning 2-1 to seal a massive 5-1 aggregate victory. For all of City’s domestic dominance, they were reminded that Europe was still very much Liverpool’s domain.
“City were streets ahead of everyone in the league, but they come to Anfield and they couldn’t handle it,” Jamie Carragher said. “I think it’s something special about Liverpool. It’s that mentality; a team may be better but they aren’t having it easy here, no f*cking way. It can be a nightmare, even for the best teams.”
City and Liverpool went toe-to-toe again in the 2018-19 season and blew everyone else away in an astonishing two-horse title race, with Guardiola’s side finishing on 98 points and Liverpool on 97.
Liverpool only lost one game all season, the 2-1 defeat to City at the Etihad Stadium, and they will forever be tortured by John Stones heroic clearance from Salah, when the defender scrambled the ball off the goalline when it was 11 millimetres away from crossing it and giving Liverpool the lead.
The game was only 17 minutes old at the time and, had the ball crossed the line, City may well have still turned things around to win. But the image of the majority of the ball – but not all of it – being over the line has been etched into Premier League folklore and symbolised the tightest of margins that separated the two rivals, and ultimately led to City winning the league and prolonging Liverpool’s long wait for a title.
At this point the rivalry was so intense that it spilled over into the England camp. Liverpool had beaten City 3-1 just days before the national-team met up at St George’s Park ahead of European Championship qualifiers and tensions were still raging when Sterling and Joe Gomez came face to face in the canteen.
The pair had had an altercation at the end of the game and Sterling pushed Gomez in the canteen, leaving him with a minor scratch on the face. England coach Gareth Southgate sent Sterling home and dropped him for the next two matches as the City forward apologised for the incident.
The clash demonstrated the level of ill-feeling between the two teams and showed that tension between opponents does not always stay on the pitch, it is sometimes so great that it leaves its mark on international football.
For the second time in four years, Liverpool and City were locked in another neck-and-neck title race. The clash at the Etihad Stadium was billed as a potential title-decider and it did not disappoint, with the teams playing out an epic 2-2 draw.
The game did not settle the title race and the team’s were separated by just one point heading into the final day of the season, when City triumphed again by beating Aston Villa thanks to an Ilkay Gundogan late show.
But it showcased the Premier League at its very best and there was a tangible feeling of mutual respect between Klopp and Guardiola throughout. Indeed, some pundits felt the rivalry was in danger of losing its edge due to the harmony between the two managers and the players.
However, any sense of a friendly truce between the two clubs was emphatically ended when they met the following season in an ill-tempered game at Anfield.
Before the match Klopp had upset City by declaring in a press conference that the Blues were among three clubs who “can do what they want” financially due to their backing from the state of Abu Dhabi. City later briefed that they thought his comments bordered on xenophobia, a charge Klopp roundly rejected.
The game, which Liverpool won 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Salah, was played out amid a volatile atmosphere: Guardiola had coins thrown at him by some home fans, while City’s bus was attacked as it left Anfield. Some City fans also behaved reprehensively, writing graffiti and singing songs that mocked the Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies.
Liverpool appeared burned out by the previous season’s title race and limped towards a fifth-placed finish, failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in six years. City, however, were even stronger and when they met again in the league were on course to win the treble.
Salah gave Liverpool the lead but City, who were missing Erling Haaland, quickly imposed themselves on their great rivals and cruised to a 4-1 win, with Stones and Jack Grealish starring.
Even without their goal machine, City were able to brush Liverpool aside and looked every inch the superior side in the rivalry once more. But will they still have that same status on Saturday afternoon?