Was there any way it was ever going to live up to the enormous hype? In fairness, this absorbing, captivating 2-2 draw gave it a fair old go.
Talked up to within an inch of its life this week, Liverpool's trip to Manchester City was billed as the biggest Premier League contest in years. In an era where hyperbole is king, it was still an accurate description as these two titans prepared to collide at the Etihad.
Certainly in Liverpool's case it was true as they looked to somehow go above a team who can probably now justify the tag as the Reds' 'arch-rivals' in 2022. Title dreams appeared to be left in ruins at the turn of the year, so just to be in this position represents quite the turnaround.
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Manchester United and Everton will always evoke the emotions of the Anfield faithful most fervently, but City are coming up on the rails as far as that goes now.
Debates during the build-up raged over just whether these two teams now represented the biggest rivalry of the Premier League era and while there are those who deny it that status because of its apparent lack of that key ingredient known as 'needle', there are surely few who can make an argument for any other based on the sheer high-strung quality of the protagonists involved.
In the end, like it was at Anfield back in early October, both teams were forced to settle for a point. It is a result that does little for those searching for a definitive conclusion to the destiny of the league title.
Spoken about before kick-off, by some at least, as a must-win, the reality is this was simply a 'must-not-lose' for Jurgen Klopp. Defeat might well have been terminal for those quadruple aspirations and while the failure to walk out of Manchester with maximum points leaves them hoping for a City stumble in the final seven matches, it is at least still a distinct possibility as this utterly compelling run-in goes on.
Klopp made three changes in total as Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota all returned to the side that beat Benfica 3-1 in Lisbon earlier this week.
City took the lead inside five minutes when a quick free-kick gave Kevin De Bruyne the space he needed to shoot and his effort, like the one at Anfield earlier this season, deflected past Alisson Becker after a touch off Matip.
To the visitors' credit, they responded superbly when Trent Alexander-Arnold cushioned Andy Robertson's cross into Jota's path for his 21st of the campaign less than 10 minutes later.
Liverpool continued to look uncharacteristically flustered defensively for much of the first half though and consistently coughed up possession in dangerous areas. Eventually it came back to bite them as Joao Cancelo found Gabriel Jesus at the back post to make it 2-1.
It took less than a minute into the second half for the Reds to respond again. Birthday boy Sadio Mane dispatched Mohamed Salah's through pass with a superb first-time finish into the top corner.
Suddenly, Klopp's side looked the sharper of the two as City were forced to retreat. Jota brought another save from Ederson as the tables turned from the first half pattern of play.
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In a similar show of character, City managed to wrestle their way back on to the front foot and thought they had made it 3-2 through Raheem Sterling only for VAR to intervene for an offside call just after the hour mark.
That was perhaps the signal for Klopp to reach into his arsenal from the bench ahd Luis Diaz was summoned for Jota for the final 20 minutes. His first involvement played in Mane who found Salah for a blocked shot before Jesus fired into the side netting up the other end.
Naby Keita came on for Henderson with a little under 15 minutes to go as Guardiola sent on Jack Grealish for Jesus shortly after. Klopp then subbed on Firmino for Mane as both teams sensed a dramatic twist in the final throes.
It was not to be. The full-time whistle brought up another pulsating draw ahead of a third meeting of the campaign in the FA Cup semi-final next Saturday.
It's unlikely that Klopp and Guardiola will ever make the best of bedfellows. While the mutual respect that they are so keen to point out whenever the other is brought up is genuine, the pair share little beyond just being two men who happen to be the planet's most gifted football managers.
Their tepid embrace as the Etihad emptied out was one borne out of sheer respect rather than any deeper friendship and in so many ways, they are the yin and the yang of elite football coaching world.
Klopp, the guffawing extrovert with the megawatt smile, is easier to caricature, while Guardiola is the self-confessed 'overthinker' who simmers with intensity at the mere thought of these fixtures.
While Klopp is the type to glug German-branded beer by the Stein and gets angry if you skim his Erdinger, it is not too much of a leap to imagine Guardiola as someone who paces his halls at night dreaming up the next tactical plan while sloshing around an ageing Chilean red.
But there is a healthy, heartfelt level of admiration between them, which is something that counts against those who claim Liverpool and Manchester City to be the greatest clash of the Premier League era.
Their brilliance has now seen them collect a combined 677 points from a possible 870 since August 2018 and with both at the forefront of the tactical and technical evolutions in the last five years or so, there can be little pushback over these current teams being the finest of the last 30 years, at least.
But the lack of any real public resentment between the managers, and subsequently, the two sets of players, is perhaps the only key drawback from these two clubs establishing true friction beyond simply both wanting to rule the football lands.
Maybe with that semi-final now on the horizon - as well the potential for a Champions League showdown in Paris next month - familiarity will breed contempt. But so far, this is a new-age type of squabble that is based on simply setting a new standard of footballing excellence in this country.
Evidently, they are both neck and neck as far as that particular battle goes.
