How Manchester City helped Liverpool win the Champions League

Liverpool won the Champions League for the sixth time on Saturday but they were helped on their way by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.

There are many people to thank for Liverpool winning the Champions League this weekend; Jurgen Klopp first of all; the incredible players; John W. Henry and FSG; and of course the fans. But I also think we can find a way that Manchester City helped Liverpool nab number six.

In the post-match press conference Klopp joked about Liverpool’s Head Physio Lee Noble made the switch from the Etihad to Anfield in November because he wanted to win the Champions League. But that isn’t how they really helped us.

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Man City helped Liverpool dominate in Europe because they were so imposingly good over the last two Premier League seasons. After racking up 100 points last year Klopp knew this Liverpool side would have to be a machine to compete with City.

Ultimately they couldn’t quite beat them this year, falling one point short. However their 97 point total is the third largest in the history of the league. It is a miracle the title wasn’t over by February. That is down to the ruthless side Klopp has built.

The 2018 additions of Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri turned the attacking dynamo side of 2017 into a team with steel and depth.

In order to keep pace with City, Liverpool had to become a side who never lost. Their only defeat was away at the Etihad. And they were one centimeter away from drawing that one.

So when the knockout European games came around in 2019 Liverpool were used to winning and incredibly difficult to beat. Bayern Munich, Porto and Spurs all fell woefully short of troubling Liverpool.

Barcelona thought they’d done it but the squad depth – and the magic of Anfield – ensured one of the most famous nights in the club’s history.

Klopp’s side would have been magnificent even without City’s achievements. But fighting them all season has given these Reds an extra determination and focus that I have never seen in a Liverpool team before.

I remember an interview with tennis star Andy Murray once where he was asked if he regretted having to play in the same era as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. He said no because although he may have won more titles in another era, he wouldn’t have been as good.

The same is true for this Liverpool. We would have more silverware if weren’t for City, but perhaps we wouldn’t be this good.