Match Analyses: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, 12.04.2018. 20:45

Referee: Mateu Lahoz

Attendance: 53,461

MANCHESTER CITY

Coach: Pep Guardiola

Playing System: 3-4-3

LIVERPOOL FC

Coach: Jürgen Klopp

Playing System: 4-3-3

Manchester City Defence

As Guardiola fielded intelligent players the home players knew they have to put so much pressure on the away team’s defence because Guardiola played with only a back three so these three players had to take care of the very dangerous Liverpool’s front three. Without high pressure Guardiola’s team were in instant trouble. 
Fernandinho played a very important role in the defence of Guardiola’s team. He was the balance player that had to organise the attacking play, drag the opponents from dangerous zones and also pay attention to the defending in their own half. He was the one that had to step back and play the role of the fourth defender. This made De Bruyne run a lot in case of danger. 

Liverpool FC Defence

Away Team Defence 1

Jürgen Klopp exactly knows how to play against Guardiola’s team. With high defensive lines and quick strikers he can force the opponent to play long balls. So Klopp fielded strikes with this quality and had tall and strong centre backs to win aerial duels. Between these lines he needed two hard-working and one clever midfielder and he had the idea who to play. He had Oxlade-Chamberlain who can play on the flanks so he knows the defensive movements on the flanks, too.
Klopp’s back four was key when City had possession in Liverpool’s half. They needed to defend their goal even if they have to give up the wings and let Manchester City get behind them. The most important was the space in the front of Karius’ goal. So Oxlade and Milner had a lot of defending work to do on the wings.

Away Team Defence 2

On the other half Klopp used a high pressing game with his attackers. They needed to find the pressing position that could be a long ground pass or a badly oriented first touch. On the picture we can see that the keeper turned aside so Firmino put pressure on him. This was the trigger for Mané to start running towards the pass receiver. With this he left Fernandinho alone but Mané used a ‘jump’ (salto in Spanish) and covered the passing lane towards Fernandinho. This was a trigger for every Liverpool player to manmark instantly and get ready for the long ball because this pressing happens in such a risky area for Manchester City. Well-organised but the most important is the execution. This worked in the first game and on this one, too. As soon as Manchester City was able to come out of this pressure, Liverpool regrouped on their own half and used the zonal defence method in a 4-3-3. 

Manchester City Attack

Everyone knew in details the mentality that led to that 3-0 win for Liverpool in the first leg of this tie. It was Pep Guardiola that knew almost every little thing about it, so he had to attack a lot. And most importantly: attack well without letting Liverpool play their stunning counter-attack game. This is the reason Pep risked and fielded many players with such an attacking attitude. The home team knew that if they concede, then the tie is possibly over. So Manchester City needed possession and needed to use it in the best areas possible.
The home team knew that Liverpool will press high and very intensively. They had such a fluid midfield and three physically great attackers. This is why the home team needed to prepare for the long balls also. In the second minute after a very aggressive pressing Gabriel Jesus took the lead and gave hope for the blues. 
Guardiola played with a back three and had Fernandinho organising in the front of them. This led to a 4v3 overload near their goal and wanted to create stability/balance and overload in midfield, too. Manchester City used a quite fluid interchanging movement system that led the wingers push forward or step back. On the picture above we can see that they had every player in position: next to the touchline there is Sané pushing up, this created space for David Silva and by moving to the flank, David Silva left the left half-space empty so that Jesus can step back in the right time. Sterling had the option to play freely so he stepped inside very often and left Bernardo Silva next to the other touchline. By these interchanges, City was able to separate the Liverpool midfielders and move them out of their defensive positions. With this four players in the back and 6 creative and mobile players at the front Guardiola wanted balance and attacking overload in the same time. Liverpool expected this so they were defending in such a compact defensive system.

Liverpool FC Attack 

The two attacking styles could be seen on this game very clearly. Jürgen Klopp is a fan of a dynamic attacking game meanwhile Guardiola likes to build up attacks and keep possession of the ball. As soon as Klopp’s team get the ball, they look for the opportunity to break through. This is how they are trained and the players are selected analysing them through this aspect. 
On the picture there is the situation before the Liverpool’s equaliser. This is the situation they wanted to have as often as they can. Have a man on the ball between the lines and then have the blue back three separated. This is a perfect situation because Firmino only stepped back for the ball if he was quite sure that he can get it in two or three seconds. It is so hard to defend as Liverpool often used penetrating runs and long balls behind the defence. It was a huge threat as they had 3 very fast attackers.
So as soon as Liverpool got the ball they looked for the deep pass opportunity. Manchester City pressed well but the away team were aware of that so the first defensive line often stepped back as soon as they lost possession. The stepping back of Firmino was a great change of Klopp’s tactics at half-time and this led to the equaliser.

Summary

Jürgen Klopp somehow knows the recipe against the Guardiola teams. He always knows where to win these games by any means. He prepares his players to understand the opponent’s thinking and playing style and also trains them to play a dynamic, self-confident game against it. Guardiola was aware of these but his players couldn’t execute this tactics as he wanted to. This is the responsibility of the coach, too as he needs to know and use his players in the best way possible. Maybe Manchester City now doesn’t have enough experience playing this style in the Champions League. 
Soccer is played for goals. Klopp knew how to win space in crucial areas. And if we take a look at the equaliser, we realise that Manchester City made a terrible mistake. That was the typical situation that Liverpool loves. For Guardiola’s concept there is a need for players with such high technical quality and they needed to grow up in such a system and style. This is the requirement for that style of play. But there will always be a recipe against it and then there will be another recipe against the previous one. This is soccer innovation. This is soccer.