The pressing by Jürgen Klopp’s side was so disciplined that it forced a collective loss of control in the visitors’ backline
It turns out, then, that the formula was simple. All anybody had to do to beat Manchester City was to match them shape for shape, press high up the pitch, harass them into a eight-minute meltdown, capitalise on mistakes with a series of stunning finishes and then cling on desperately.
Jürgen Klopp is not the first manager to realise that the best way to unsettle a Pep Guardiola side is to squeeze them, and this is not the first time he has had his side do that effectively. No manager has a better record than Klopp against Guardiola: six wins in 12 attempts. But, as Tottenham discovered, trying to push high against City is fraught with risk; they did it well enough to force City to adapt their approach and ended up being hammered 4-1.
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