Both Liverpool and Manchester City reacted with the same emotion to their pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sunday: disappointment.
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Man of the match and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Man City’s goalscorer John Stones both spoke to our colleagues in the UK at Sky Sports after the game and revealed more than a tinge of frustration they didn’t get the win.
That tells you how close this game between these bitter rivals was, as once again the Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola clash delivered a wonderful clash of styles which ebbed and flowed and took every ounce out of the players on the pitch.
Asked about Liverpool’s reaction to a slow first half as they roared back in the second to grab a point, Virgil van Dijk was feeling conflicted.
Van Dijk - Draw was bittersweet
“Much better than the first 15-20 minutes of first half,” Van Dijk said. “Every time they could find the free man in the pocket and I think we should have closed the middle a bit better to make it a bit easier. How we reacted is good. We had very good chances but couldn’t convert them to a winner. Obviously, bittersweet.
“Based on the second half you feel like you should have won it. But they had a shot on the post as well and we can’t deny with their quality that could also finish off... It is a bit bittersweet at the moment.”
Stones was equally torn as he felt City should have scored a few more in the first half and built on his opener.
“We created quite a lot of chances early on in the game and probably could have taken them and been two or three up but that is football,” Stones said. “We know what we are in for coming here. We feel a bit deflated in the dressing room. We came here to win, but this is such a difficult place to come.”
Liverpool chasing quadruple as City chase treble
The final Premier League game between Klopp as Liverpool’s boss and Guardiola’s as City’s is a bittersweet moment too.
These managers and these teams have delivered some truly epic encounters over the years and Van Dijk mentioned the respect between the two teams.
“City has been very successful with the titles they’ve won. Every game we’ve played against each other has been very intense, maybe there’s one game that wasn’t, after we won the league and they hosted us after and that was a bit of a hangover game. But other than that every game has been so difficult,” Van Dijk said. “They have quality all over the pitch. That is why they won the treble last year. I respect that but today was, for us, was the task to win the game and do everything in our power to do that and we had chances in the second half.”
Van Dijk also called for perspective when looking at how far Liverpool have come to be in the fight for the title this season. Liverpool are behind Arsenal only on goal difference heading into the final 10 games of the season.
“To come away with a point, it is not a bad situation. We have to focus on what is next, be positive,” Van Dijk said. “I’ve said it many times in recent weeks, just enjoy the ride. If you think back 12 months ago where we were, the struggles we had, the ups and downs and consistency that was missing, and look where we are right now, that is something that we should not take for granted. Sometimes in life and football this things happen and I want to make sure we enjoy this. I think second half we certainly did.”
Stones added that ‘every game is a final’ for City and they will take the positives from their draw at Liverpool as they chase the title and are just a point behind leaders Arsenal and second-place Liverpool with 10 games to go.
