Incredible City comeback and Liverpool's useless victory
Before the final round of this season, it was impossible to get rid of the parallels with the Premier League championship three years ago.
As then, Manchester City and Liverpool fought for gold until the last round, while Pep Guardiola's wards had a slight advantage.
They were ahead of their competitors by one point and in the event of another success they guaranteed themselves the first line.
The Merseysiders, on the other hand, needed not only to beat Wolverhampton, but also to hope that their opponents would stumble.
And although the "townspeople" were very confident and were in the lead since the beginning of December, the chances were not zero.
Last week, they unexpectedly lost points in the confrontation with West Ham and could well make a mistake again.
The intrigue was further twisted by the fact that none other than the legend of the Reds could prevent City from becoming a champion.
In the final round, Aston Villa, under the leadership of Steven Gerrard, granted the Etihad.
And although the team itself occupied only the 13th line and had no tournament motivation, there was no reason to doubt the mood of its players and coach.
At least that's what Klopp thought, according to whom the former captain would definitely want to help Liverpool win the trophy again.
However, it is unlikely that only love for his native club moved Gerrard.
The ex-footballer himself probably did not forget the 2013/14 season, which became one of the most dramatic in the recent history of the Premier League.
With three rounds to go, the Reds were leading the table, but Stephen's own blunder in the match with Chelsea allowed Manchester City to bypass Liverpool and subsequently hold on to first place.
It was then that the captain missed the last chance to become the champion of England, and the hegemony of the "sky blue" began in the Premier League.
And by the 69th minute, it seemed that justice would be restored, and it was Gerrard who would get the second Premier League trophy for Liverpool in 30 years.
Although Aston Villa was forced to fight off the constant attacks of Manchester City, by the middle of the second half it was she who led with a score of 2:0.
First, defender Matty Cash completed a dagger counterattack on the left flank with an accurate header, and then another ex-football player of the Reds took the floor.
Felipe Coutinho put Aymeric Laporte on the lawn and shot right under the bar, putting the hosts in a difficult position.
Now they had to either score three times or hope that Liverpool would lose points.
And by this time, the Merseysiders did an excellent job with this task.
Already in the third minute, Ibrahima Konate launched the ball behind his back when taking out from the gate and allowed Raul Jimenez not only to break into the penalty area, but also to cut an accurate pass to the undisguised Pedra Net.
And although already in the middle of the first half, Klopp's wards restored parity, this was not enough for them.
In case of equal points, the difference between goals scored and goals conceded was taken into account.
And according to this indicator, they were noticeably inferior to their rivals.
However, the City players also understood that any accurate strike from Liverpool automatically puts him in the first position and brings him closer to an incredible achievement.
In this case, the Merseysiders would add to the victories in the FA Cups and the English League also the championship, remaining one step away from the quadruple.
So far, only Celtic have managed to win the European Cup and three national trophies in 1967.
But the "citizens" were not going to put up with this and in just five minutes they turned the course of the meeting with Aston Villa upside down.
And one of the main creators of the phenomenal comeback was Ilkay Gundogan, who appeared on the field only in the middle of the second half.
First, the German irresistibly struck his head after a pass by Raheem Sterling and closed the gap, and then chalked up the winning goal.
Of course, Kevin de Bruyne did most of the work in this case, but the run to the far post was more timely than ever.
And between the two balls of the midfielder, a long-range “shot” from Rodri from the pass of Alexander Zinchenko was recorded.
All of this was reminiscent of City's final game of the 2011/12 season, in which they crushed Queens Park Rangers in a similar manner and became champions of England for the first time in the 21st century.
Back then, Roberto Mancini's team were trailing 1-2 until stoppage time, when Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero pulled out three points.
And only at this moment did Liverpool finally break the resistance of Wolves.
For the entire meeting, Klopp's wards delivered 29 shots on goal for José Sa, eight of which were on target, but they managed to distinguish themselves only three times.
First, Mohamed Salah literally shoved the ball into the near corner after a corner, and then Andrew Robertson, along with Roberto Firmino, built the third goal.
However, everything was already in vain.
Manchester City held on to victory and finished first, again one point ahead of their opponents.
"Citizens" for the eighth time in history became the champions of the country and took this indicator to a clean fifth place.
Above them are only Everton (nine), Arsenal (13), Liverpool (19) and Manchester United (20).
At the same time, they won half of the trophies under the leadership of Guardiola, the second most titled coach in the history of the Premier League (since 1992).
At the moment, only Sir Alex Ferguson is ahead of him, having led the Red Devils to success 13 times.
Leau's Inspiration and Pioli's Devil's Dozen
A similar situation was in Serie A. The only difference was that Inter was in an even more difficult position than Liverpool.
After all, for the second year in a row, he could become a champion only if he defeats Sampdoria himself, and Milan is defeated by Sassuolo.
For the round to the end, Simone Inzaghi's wards were two points behind the irreconcilable rivals, and also lost in personal meetings.
In the case of equal points, this indicator is more important in Italy.
And although Milan was confronted by a nominally stronger opponent, only 36 minutes were enough for him to finally kill the intrigue in the fight for gold.
First, the ageless Olivier Giroud scored a double in a quarter of an hour, and the final point was put by Frank Kessier, for whom this match was probably the last in a red and black T-shirt.
According to Spanish media reports, the Ivorian has already signed a personal agreement with Barcelona, which will move to the camp as a free agent.
Perhaps that is why he originally celebrated the goal - he went to the stands and put his right hand to his head.
However, they were not the main characters of the meeting.
This title was earned by Rafael Leau, who organized all three goals of the Rossoneri.
It was he who twice found Giroud with passes, and then brought Kessie to the blow.
At the same time, one assist was taken away from him - in the first case, the defender of the hosts managed to touch the ball.
In a parallel match with the same big score, Inter took over.
Unless he put all three goals in an eight-minute segment at the beginning of the second half.
The first nail was driven in by the experienced Ivan Perisic, after which the double was scored by Joaquin Correa, who last scored at the end of October.
It is noteworthy that this season the Argentine scored six goals and every time he “shot” with doublets.
True, it did not add joy to the forward of the owners.
Inter won, but remained two points behind Milan, who won the Italian championship for the first time since 2011.
And as then, one of the leaders of the team was Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swede also appeared on the field during the confrontation with Sassuolo and even upset Andrea Consigli, but the ball was not counted.
A few seconds before the exact hit, the same Leau climbed offside, again acting as an assistant.
One way or another, the legendary striker won the 32nd trophy in his career and impressed everyone during the ceremony.
Like Michael Jordan, he entered the field with a cigar in his mouth and posed in front of the fans in a signature manner.
It is all the more remarkable that a specialist who has not had a single trophy in his track record has managed to help Milan become the champion of Italy for the 19th time, and Ibrahimovic to prolong his football youth.
Stefano Pioli started coaching in 1999 and managed to work with a dozen different Italian teams, but it was the 13th that became his lucky one.
And this is especially significant, because initially he was considered only as a temporary worker, whose main task was to pave the way for the arrival of Ralph Rangnik.