Just four days after the World Cup final, football is back to normal in England. In the League Cup, Liverpool and City deliver a spectacle – also because the stars are surprisingly used in both. Klopp's Reds twice equalized a lead but ended up losing out.
The two top English clubs Manchester City and Liverpool FC reported back with a football spectacle after the World Cup break - and in the end Pep Guardiola was able to celebrate. The English champions beat Jürgen Klopp's Reds 3-2 (1-1) in the round of 16 of the League Cup on Thursday. This means that the Reds have lost another chance for the title, after the championship title is hardly possible with a deficit of 15 points to Arsenal.
Ex-Dortmunder Erling Haaland, who missed the World Cup with Norway, gave Manchester the lead in the 10th minute, Fabio Carvalho (20th) equalized for Liverpool. After the change, Riyad Mahrez (47th) put the city back in the lead, and top striker Mo Salah (48th) immediately equalized again. Nathan Ake, who failed with the Netherlands in the World Cup quarter-finals against eventual world champions Argentina, finally scored to win (58th).
If the League Cup was often neglected in the past, Guardiola and Klopp sent a number of stars onto the field, including many World Cup drivers. Manchester's team manager Guardiola offered Phil Foden, Jack Grealish (both England) and Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium), among others, Klopp put Uruguay's Darwin Núñez in the starting XI and replaced England midfielder Jordan Henderson.
İlkay Gündoğan, who conceded another bitter knockout in the preliminary round with the DFB team in Qatar, was in the starting XI along with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. The ex-Bielefeld player, who is number two in the league, played outstandingly in the 2-0 win against Chelsea in the third round.
Haaland in particular, who had made an outstanding start to the season after moving from Dortmund to ManCity, was eager for the "restart" after the tough break. For him it was the 24th goal in the 19th competitive game for his new club.
