Klopp is now Pep’s bogey manager... his tactics made City look ordinary

JURGEN KLOPP has a remarkable hold over Pep Guardiola – and it could carry Liverpool all the way to the European Cup.

Klopp has the best record of any manager against Guardiola for a very good reason – the way his teams play and set up in games.

Just like at Anfield on Wednesday night, Liverpool are all about press, press, press. They were on to Manchester City like a swarm of bees, pushing them into mistakes at every turn.

Klopp’s tactics remain the same whether he has faced Guardiola with Borussia Dortmund or Liverpool and it’s often been the same fate for Pep at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City.

And you can bet every other team left in the competition – Barcelona, Real Madrid, whoever – would have looked at the way Liverpool play and seen that they will be a formidable opponent.

Barcelona are not the force they once were, they rely so heavily on Lionel Messi. Real Madrid are not unbeatable and maybe even Bayern are not as good as two or three years ago.

It leaves the path open for Liverpool and they showed against City that they have a deeper squad, are fitter maybe than in previous seasons and can play a high press, while the players seem to have more belief. Klopp won a tactical battle against Guardiola – his record is now seven wins from 13 – and this was perhaps the most satisfying.

The intriguing part this time was that perhaps Klopp’s hold over Guardiola has got the City boss making mistakes. Why did he pick Ilkay Gundogan over Raheem Sterling? On the face of it, it was to bolster his midfield.

But taking Sterling out of the team means City become narrow and that meant Liverpool did not need to cover so much ground to close down the opposition. It really is that simple – and it was a huge mistake.

There is no way back for City. They were harried into looking ordinary. They have quality players but under pressure even the best mess up if they know an opponent is about to close them down.

They do not look up, they play the wrong pass, they get caught in possession. That was the pattern of City’s performance, just look at how many times Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany were pressed into mistakes.

Two of Liverpool’s goals came as a result of errors and that is the grip Klopp has over Guardiola. So much so that Klopp will celebrate a successful press as much as a goal. That’s what he’s all about – and why Liverpool beat City.