Liverpool and Manchester City face off in the Community Shield
The English league season has not even started yet, but Liverpool and Manchester City — two of Europe's most competitive teams in the last five years — showed yesterday the outstanding level they are accustomed to. At the King Power Stadium (home of Leicester City and, on this occasion, replacement for the traditional Wembley), the 'Reds' defeated the 'Citizens' 3-1 and were crowned champions of the Community Shield, a competition that brings together the winner of the FA Cup and the winner of the Premier League for the first time in 16 long years.
YOU CAN WATCH: With a translator by his side: this was Julián Álvarez's presentation to the City fans.
As expected, a match between two tactical and strategic masterminds like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola was going to be decided by small details. Specific issues. Misfortunes of the game. When the match was tied (Trent Alexander Arnold scored for Liverpool in the first half and Julián Álvarez for City in the second half), a handball by Rúben Dias in the area and a well-executed penalty kick by Mohamed Salah (83') tipped the balance in favor of the 'Reds'.
Irregular. Haaland started, but missed a clear chance. Photo: EFE
Less than ten minutes later (90+4'), the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, called to be Sadio Mané's substitute, sealed the victory. With his goal, the Uruguayan forward became the fourth player to score in his official debut for Liverpool under the technical direction of Jurgen Klopp, following Mané, Salah, and Van Dijk.
YOU CAN WATCH: The successor of Suárez! Darwin Núñez scored a great goal, unleashes the euphoria and finishes the match.
Thanks to the victory, Klopp became the first coach in history to win the seven major titles with the 'red' shirt. Similarly, he extended his superiority over Guardiola in direct duels: out of the 25 official confrontations between them, the German coach came out victorious ten times, drew seven times, and lost eight times. No other coach in the history of football has beaten Pep ten times.
The word
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool coach
"What intensity. These were two teams that offered a very good match. We don't always win, but the matches against City are always entertaining. This time, the changes made the difference."