Manchester City showed their class on Thursday with a 4-0 victory against newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
City sent a warning shot of their intentions to take the title back next season as Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden all struck before half-time to inflict just Liverpool’s third league defeat in 71 games.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s own goal rounded off a miserable night for Klopp’s men, who could have conceded many more in the second half.
“I wanted to see a brilliant attitude and I saw that, the boys were really fighting. Nobody was like ‘hey I am coming here, we don’t care’. We care a lot. That is how it feels, it feels not good and it should not feel like it is,” said Klopp. “If there is a team in the world that can smash us like this it is probably City but we will come again.”
City began the evening by giving a guard of honour to their opponents, but showed little respect once the action got underway.
“I saw them in the guard of honour and they were so focused, they didn’t even say ‘thank you’. That is why they are champions of Europe and the Premier League,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “They drank a lot of beers in the past week but they arrive here without beers in the blood to compete against us.”
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the result:
⚽️⚽️ HIGHLIGHTS ⚽️⚽️
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 2, 2020
All the best bits from our emphatic win over Liverpool...👇
🔵 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/rPKRaWknhK
Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden have returned the most ⚽s and 🅰️s (5) since the restart#FPL #MCILIV pic.twitter.com/ySRWnF0I12
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 2, 2020
Not our best performance. We’ll make sure we‘ll show up strong next time 👊🏾 #MCILIV pic.twitter.com/EFnnPECbSI
— Gini Wijnaldum (@GWijnaldum) July 2, 2020
💫 Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in 28 goals this season - more than any other player in the #PL#MCILIV pic.twitter.com/SWABcGjmUM
— Premier League (@premierleague) July 3, 2020
4-0 - Liverpool's 4-0 defeat to Manchester City is the joint-heaviest defeat by a team already crowned Premier League champions in a season, along with Arsenal's 4-0 away defeat at Liverpool in 1997/98. Fizzled. #MCILIV pic.twitter.com/z3ugVCwRA4
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 2, 2020
Raheem Sterling has just walked 70 yards to seek out Jordan Henderson, embrace him and congratulate him. (Players doing post-match interviews different ends of pitch. Sterling walking back to dressing-room but spotted Henderson waiting for his interview, and headed over). #MCILIV
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 2, 2020
Man City's build-up play against Liverpool & how they used their midfielders to drag the Liverpool midfielders out of their positions to open the spaces in between the lines for Gabriel Jesus & Sterling to exploit pic.twitter.com/OzkWkLeuYj
— Nouman (@nomifooty) July 2, 2020
Phil Foden is one hell of a replacement for David Silva! The national team will benefit massively! What a player! #MCILIV
— Rants (@rantsnbants) July 2, 2020
so liverpool was honored four-nothing. #MCLIV. 🙄🚶 pic.twitter.com/7pNsY689cs
— Gdom (@GdomDominic) July 3, 2020
Rivals : Liverpool fans must be crying after that defeat, don’t even see them on the timeline 🤣🤣🤣
— W7 (@waseem7_) July 2, 2020
Liverpool fans : pic.twitter.com/moOhZGye3A
Good advert this for how drinking to excess affects your performance at work.. #MCILIV
— Chris Williams (@Chris78Williams) July 2, 2020
Manchester City channeled the pain from giving that guard of honor to Liverpool into goals. #MCILIV
— Richard (@meettherichard) July 2, 2020
Arsenal fans watching Man City's performance tonight knowing they've got them in the FA Cup semis 😟#MCILIV pic.twitter.com/s6EXeqkE8O
— Goal (@goal) July 2, 2020
I’m a United fan but if Kevin De Bruyne doesn’t get prem player of the year he’s been robbed #MCILIV pic.twitter.com/Luvf0829W7
— MUFC Central (@MUFCCntrl) July 2, 2020
If only Arsenal could learn to lose like this and still win the league 😩. #MCILIV
— SAUTI SOL (@sautisol) July 2, 2020
Disgusted at @ManCity players...walking away before the whole @LFC team were through the guard of honour. #MCILIV
— Mrs Patterson 💙 (@MrsP_A) July 2, 2020
(With inputs from AFP)