Liverpool’s cup exits proves Pep’s point

WHEN Alvaro Morata scored Atletico Madrid’s third extra-time goal at Anfield to confirm the end of Liverpool’s Champions League defence, there may have been a flicker of a smile across Pep Guardiola’s face.

Jurgen Klopp’s exit was their fourth defeat in six games – a sequence that has seen them crash out of the FA Cup and Champions League.

It’s worth saying that to win the Champions League last season and Premier League this season is a remarkable feat, especially at the high level Liverpool have been playing. To add a European title to a domestic one is something even City haven’t yet mastered.

However, Liverpool’s failure to win more than one trophy this season shows how impressive the Blues’ form over the past three years has been – and it proves a recent prediction from Guardiola exactly spot on.

City have won eight out of the last nine domestic trophies available, six from seven if the invitational Community Shield is excluded. They could still add the FA Cup and Champions League to that record before the end of the season.

Following the most recent trophy victory in the Carabao Cup final, Guardiola claimed such an incredible run is unlikely to be repeated by any side.

After defeating Aston Villa at Wembley earlier this month, Guardiola said: “I think the fact that we’ve won eight of nine is incredible, it’s more remarkable. I think it will be so difficult to do it again, not just for ourselves but for our opponents – it’s the consistency.

“We won eight titles. When we won the first title here against Arsenal we played 11 competitions. We won eight of these 11 so it’s a lot. For this club it’s not just about one title, it’s about every game we play and every title we play for counts and try to win and that is the best thing we can give for this club.”

Liverpool have been brilliant this season in the Premier League and deserve their title when it comes, just as they deserved the Champions League last season. But when it comes to winning multiple season-long competitions in a short space of time, Klopp’s men are showing just how tough it is to maintain a high level of performance on multiple fronts like City have been doing since 2017.

And in the process, they’re proving Guardiola exactly right.