Liverpool blow Manchester City away in first-half blitz to take charge of Champions League quarter-final

Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City: Goals by Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane delivered a perfect night for the home supporters in a magical atmosphere

After a magical Liverpool night that lived up to every effusive word ever uttered about Anfield, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are now going to have live up to all the hype about them to turn this tie around. The Catalan will maybe have to produce his greatest feat of management yet, or something at least as wondrous as Jurgen Klopp conjured here for this coruscating 3-0 victory that itself will match anything this great old ground has seen in Europe.That’s the scale of the task for City in the second leg, that’s how magnificent Liverpool were.

It was amazing to think that the utterly thrashed visitors could be crowned the most commanding ever English champions as soon as Saturday, because it’s been a long time since they have been made to look this callow, this out of ideas, this poor. City’s night started with their bus getting smashed up, and just got worse. The only blemish for Liverpool is the second-half injury to the dominant Mohamed Salah, although Klopp said afterwards the player said he was "fine".

The consequences of that remain to be seen, but the consequences of Liverpool’s gameplan were already ruinous for City. There was actually nothing really special or sophisticated to that gameplan in terms of tactics in setting up this special night, other than Klopp realising how to maximise his main weapon. It is a relatively simple one that remains the most dangerous in the game: pure pace. Speed. It was weaved to brilliant effect.

The real key, though, was that Liverpool successfully set a pace that City couldn’t match even when Klopp’s team began to naturally subside. That is also where the real inquest will come about the game for Guardiola, and why exactly this happened.

One of many remarkable - well, really, astounding - aspects of this game was that City had actually started it the better team. Guardiola had obviously been extremely mindful of the ruinous effect of that rampaging pace. So mindful, in fact, that his entire gameplan seemed to be set up around it. That backfired badly. Liverpool were just too fearsome on the front foot.

In so evidently trying to take the sting out of any fast Liverpool start by slowing the pace of the match, City took all sting out of their own game, and were just completely unable to match it when Klopp’s men drastically upped that pace. The visitors couldn’t raise themselves. They were so flatfooted, as was seen in so many big moments.

That was never more obvious than the moment that set the pattern of the game. Although City had been someway successful in suffocating the match in the first 10 minutes, it was undone as quickly by a Salah run. He stormed through the City half on 11 minutes, with Guardiola’s backline literally struggling to stay on their feet in response, and the ball eventually came back for the Egyptian to continue his gloriously prolific season.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored an long-range second (Reuters)

The second goal didn’t come from the same type of counter, but did come from the same Liverpool power against City ponderousness. As Fernandinho and Vincent Kompany could only half-clear an attack, Oxlade-Chamberlain responded by making the fullest possible connection with the ball. A better goal this season you will struggle to see. A purer strike you just will not see. It summed up the difference between the sides, something made all the clearer a moment later.

As David Silva stood with the ball on the edge of the Liverpool box taking his time to pick out a pass, James Milner just charged back to thunderously win it off him. This was what it was coming down to.

While every City player looked so sluggish, Liverpool looked like scoring from every attack. So they duly did exactly that from the next one. Salah was afforded so much time to pick a cross, and Sadio Mane was afforded the space in the box to pick his spot with a close-ranger header.

Anfield was absolutely rocking, City were just absolutely rocked. Really, they were worse than rocked. They looked stunned, as if they couldn’t quite believe what was happening, and didn’t know how to get themselves out of this.

At that point, Guardiola’s pointed pre-match words seemed all the more relevant.

It was a frustrating night for Gabriel Jesus (Reuters)

"What I admire the most from the important teams is in the bad moments they are calm, they remain calm,” the Catalan had said. “In the bad moments, the opponents are attacking and it looks like I am taking a cup of coffee because I know my chance is coming.”

He didn’t look like he was taking a cup of coffee, nor did his team look anyway calm.

A chance did present itself, mind, but because of blind fortune rather than City force. Salah had to go off injured, replaced by Gini Wijnaldum.

The entire mood around Anfield had shifted, from one of excitable anticipation to edgy anxiety, as City finally began to have more of the ball.

It was just that Guardiola’s side hadn’t yet shifted gears. Sure, they had more of that ball, but they were still so sluggish and sloppy with it. It was as if the early approach had terminally stifled them for the remainder of this game. They didn’t realise that there was now a vulnerability to Liverpool, nor did they realise that they have far more attacking options than just hitting it out to a Leroy Sane not at his liveliest. This was all a coach as sophisticated as Guardiola had?

Kevin De Bruyne struggled to show his qualities (Reuters)

Trent Alexander-Arnold had clearly been targeted at right-back, but was able to meet every challenge.

City weren’t able to raise it further. It said much that a very quiet Kevin De Bruyne was so frustrated he offered the type of foul that brought a booking. City could bring nothing else to the game.

The inherent chaos to this Liverpool team will mean they won’t consider qualification for the semi-finals any way secure, but their backline - and especially the brilliant Dejan Lovren - stood up superbly in the second half.

City couldn’t even reach second gear. Any celebrations for confirming first place in the Premier League on Saturday will feel that bit emptier, because Guardiola is now going to have second-guess himself so much for that.

There will be none of that with Klopp or Liverpool. They assuredly won with the purity of a team that just went for it, that played on their best qualities, and produced a night that will go down as one of the best even in this club’s history.