THE FRUITS OF MELLON

went in – that they are two great teams playing at an incredibly high level.

Liverpool had control for a lot of the game, and maybe learned the first lesson of top-class football – when you play the very best sides, you need to take your chances, because if you don’t, they’ll always hurt you.

But I don’t think Klopp’s team bottled it, and I don’t think one defeat suddenly makes them vulnerable. The way they played, fought their way back into the game and created enough to win says exactly the opposite.

What I do think though, is City are a great team who have the players to go on another long unbeaten run, which means Liverpool will have to do the same.

And that’s tough for a side who haven’t been there before, who

haven’t won the league. l I spoke k to Ryan Giggs about it, and he said of all the league titles he won with United, the first was by far the hardest.

When you’re there, in touching distance, in a position to win, pressure grows, expectation rises, and you feel every moment of it.

It’s human nature, and it’s difficult to switch off. Every game your opponents win, you feel like you can’t make a single mistake.

City know how to deal with that, Liverpool don’t. So their manager has a huge role in trying to keep them as calm, and focused merely on the gameplan, as possible.

Klopp’s been there before and knows how to do that.

And he will start by telling his side just how big a compliment City paid them on Thursday – and just how much sides fear this Liverpool team now.