Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday. Here are three takeaways from the match.
It was billed as the best match of the quarterfinals and, for Liverpool fans at least, it didn’t disappointed. Mohamed Salah once again starred for his side, this time in 3-0 win against Manchester City. The Egyptian scored one and created another, before going off injured early in the second half to offer City a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg. Here are three things we learned from the game.
Liverpool have the formula for beating Manchester City
City have lost four games in all competitions this season, with perhaps the most comprehensive defeat they’ve suffered so far coming at Anfield against Liverpool. The Citizens were left shell-shocked at the intensity of the Liverpool press and were 4-1 down at one stage before staging a late comeback to lose the game 4-3.
The first half hour of this game took a similar path. The Reds pressed their opponents from the opening whistle and were rewarded with a poor giveaway from a City corner leading to the counter-attack that proceeded Salah’s opener. From there, Liverpool tasted blood and stormed into a commanding 3-0 goal lead.
Pep Guardiola’s team have looked near unbeatable for much of this season’s Premier League, but they’ve now visited Anfield twice this season and have twice fallen helpless to Liverpool’s “heavy metal” soccer. Should City advance to the semifinals or, more realistically, should their title rivals in the Premier League wish to know how they can compete with the Citizens next season, they might want to take a few lessons from Jurgen Klopp’s frenzied pressing scheme.
Salah injury gives City hope
Liverpool’s dominating win did come at a cost, however, with Salah going off injured in the second half. The Egyptian has dominated all before him this season and is challenging Cristiano Ronaldo for the European Golden Shoe. The silky forward was at his very best against City, beating the away side’s high defensive line on numerous occasions.
Though it was left-backs that Manchester City were short of heading into this tie, they seriously struggled on the right side of the pitch with Salah turning Kyle Walker inside out in the lead-up to the first goal, before showing a predator instinct to tap home into an empty net after Roberto Firmino had dispossessed Walker in the box.
Perhaps an underrated trait of Salah’s is his ability to create chances as well as score them. Liverpool’s number 11 has 10 assists in all competitions this season and showed great tenacity and vision to find Sadio Mane at the far post for the second goal. His injury early into the second half could be a huge blow for Klopp, and with Jordan Henderson also out of the second leg having picked up too many yellow cards, a long-term injury to Salah could offer City a glimmer of hope.
Although it doesn’t excuse the dismal performance of Guardiola’s side in the first half hour of this affair, City were missing some crucial figures heading into this game, including their star striker, Sergio Augero. The Citizens had a few chances in the second half to get an away goal, which Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus failed to take.
Such chances are unlikely to be missed by the Argentinian, should he bit fit in the second leg. With this Liverpool side having a history of throwing away big leads in 90 minutes this season (away to Sevilla, at home to City in the Premier League), the tie’s not over yet.
Liverpool have the pedigree to go all the way
With or without Salah, Liverpool have quality all across the pitch. Having started the season conceding goals consistently, Virgil van Dijk seems to have shored up the defense. They became just the fourth side to keep City from scoring this season.
Although Salah is the star with 38 goals this season, his attacking partners, Mane and Firmino, have another 34 goals between them. The Reds have scored the most goals in the competition this season, and with their European predigree, the lack of which has been cited as a reason sides like City and PSG have struggled in Europe, it’s hard to argue this Liverpool aren’t among the contenders should they advance to the semifinals.
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Of course, the European elite of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich will have a big say in how much of a chance Liverpool have at a sixth European title and with a big second leg still to come in this tie, there’s still a long way to go. However, Liverpool’s first half on Wednesday should be a warning to the rest of Europe.
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