NIGHT’S FIREWORKS WERE OUTSIDE GROUND

FIREWORKS went off outside the Etihad and there’s a good chance they were let off by a mischievous Liverpool fan.

But the Reds’ title party had barely fizzled out before they were brought back down to earth with a bang. The Merseysiders got a guard of honour from Manchester City to mark their taking of the Premier League title from Pep Guardiola’s side.

But their first game as champions will only serve to be a reminder how hard it is going to be for Jurgen Klopp and Co to keep hold of the trophy they haven’t even got their hands on yet.

Klopp reminisced before this game about his back-to-back Bundesliga triumphs with Borussia Dortmund in 2011 and 2012. But he also warned about how that fired up Bayern

Munich. City will surely have a bonfire lit under them now, too.

At times, Guardiola may have looked like he was losing interest in the City project as they fell further behind the Reds. But he will surely be inspired to take down the side who are now their fiercest rivals on the pitch, even if Blues fans still think the Manchester team in red are the ones to despise the most.

But City will need investment in the summer. There were two players in red last night who would turn them back into the dominant side. Virgil van Dijk was not deemed worth £75million by City’s bosses in 2017. Now it looks like they missed out on one of the bargains of the century. And in Fabinho, Liverpool have a player who would be the perfect replacement for Fernandinho, left. OK, neither of them backed that point up last night. In fact, after an impressive opening 10 minutes, the whole Liverpool side started to look like their title party went on all week. Many of Klopp’s side are teetotal but this was some hangover considering they’d only lost once in the league before this game. Klopp didn’t get a champion performance from his side, who have been explosive all season. And this will at least remind everyone else that City are not about to go away anytime soon.