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Jürgen Klopp hugs Pep Guardiola

Photo: Paul Ellis / AFP

Come into my arms:

Two years in the Bundesliga, eight in the Premier League, the coaching rivalry between Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola looks back on a decade of competition.

Ten years in which Mister Gegenpressing and the grand master of positional play have pushed themselves to achieve top performance.

Out of 30 duels, Klopp won twelve, Guardiola was victorious eleven times.

City won more titles, but the direct duels could hardly have been more even.

Klopp will leave Liverpool in the summer and after that he never wants to coach in the Premier League again.

In the last league game against Guardiola's City there was an hour and a half of full-throttle football - and finally a warm hug with the opponent.

“We defend our clubs,” Guardiola said later.

But he didn't need a hug to show his appreciation for Klopp.

The result:

Liverpool FC and Manchester City split 1:1 (0:1).

At the top of the Premier League, just one point separates the top three.

The match report can be found here.

The largest possible framework:

The starting position was appropriate for the occasion: the winner of the game would have gone to the top of the Premier League.

Manchester City had all the stars on board, Liverpool filled the stadium.

In the media, half of Europe was looking forward to this game as if it were a final and not the 28th matchday.

Oscar-worthy:

The Academy Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on Monday evening; cinema greats such as Christopher Nolan or Martin Scorsese could be honored for best director.

It's lucky that the director is just a household word in football: otherwise there would probably be no way around Kevin De Bruyne.

The City playmaker shone from the start with passes like he was pulling on a string of pearls, and with a tricky long-range shot (8th minute) he announced the champions' threat to score.

De Bruyne missed the first half of the season injured and it is no coincidence that City have been unbeaten since his return.

The Anfield effect:

For ten minutes it looked as if the Reds, who had weakened replacements - Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté and Alisson were missing, Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson were only on the bench - were no equal opponents for the giants from Manchester.

But the nominal outsider had one trump card: the sold-out stadium at Anfield Road.

Sky blue possession was consistently whistled, Peps City only won here during Corona time.

To ensure that it stayed that way, Liverpool did everything they could - and Luis Díaz even put the ball in the goal to crown the urgent phase (19th).

But the goal didn't count because Darwin Núñez, who provided the assist, was offside.

Corner taken smartly:

Every ten minutes the balance of power seemed to shift and now it was City's turn again.

Liverpool left fewer gaps than in the opening minutes, but City had a trick up their sleeve that the Reds didn't expect: De Bruyne hit a corner half-high at the near post.

There, Nathan Aké cleverly blocked an alley into which John Stones burst and beat the surprised Alisson replacement Caoimhin Kelleher from point-blank range (23').

That hurt doubly:

After falling behind, only Liverpool played for a long time, Dominik Szoboszlai's header (31') and Luis Díaz from a good 20 meters (42') both narrowly missed.

City goalkeeper Ederson would have also liked to have missed Darwin Núñez's shin: immediately after the break, the Uruguayan intercepted a sloppy back pass from Aké and was felled by Ederson.

This resulted in a penalty, which Alexis Mac Allister converted (50th) - and shortly afterwards Ederson, who had been injured in the action, was substituted.

New to the game was ex-Bielefeld player Stefan Ortega (56th), who held his own and said after the final whistle about winning the point: "In the end, the joy outweighs."

In a private duel:

After an hour, Salah and Robertson came into the game at Liverpool.

Both stood out above all as assistants - and attended an exchange of great entertainment value: Kyle Walker had virtually neutralized his opponent Díaz before the break, but the Colombian gained more and more steam the later the afternoon got.

After Salah's through pass, Díaz put the ball next to the goal (63'), was just barely disturbed by Walker in the next scene (64'), and then dribbled past City's right-back again and again in the final phase - but without making any decisive capital out of it hit.

The invincible:

City also had chances: Kelleher punched Foden, the ball hit the crossbar (73'), Jérémy Doku moved into the center and hit the post (89').

A win would have been too much of a good thing, but a defeat was statistically almost impossible: After all, Rodri played for City, and he ended his 61st (!) game in a row without defeat.

When two people argue:

the chapter between Klopp and Guardiola is closed – at least for the moment.

Liverpool and Manchester City can meet again in the FA Cup before Klopp's departure, but in the Premier League everyone has to look out for themselves.

Or: up to Arsenal FC.

The Gunners have taken the lead thanks to the winning goal scorer Kai Havertz, and after the international break, Mikel Arteta's team will be City's next tough opponents on March 31st.

The title race remains a three-way battle.