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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
John Aldridge

Liverpool have the one thing Man City can't buy with all their billions

Manchester City can have all the money in the world, but they can’t have a stadium, atmosphere or club like Liverpool.

City are a great side and have a great manager, but that was proper football. That’s what it has all been about for as long as I can remember.

Rival supporters love to describe Anfield as sort some of 'myth', but I have been there since the mid-60s and we wouldn’t have got the results we did over the years without the crowd. You go back to European games like Barcelona, Club Brugge, Dortmund and St-Etienne - it's the best 12th man in football by a mile.

READ MORE: Bernardo 'attack' on Mo Salah exposed as Pep Guardiola fumes at Liverpool break

READ MORE: Man City awaiting further information but ready to 'root out vile behaviour' after Liverpool chants

Other teams can look at us with envy, and I think Man City are one of those. The one thing they haven't got is that. They had a better atmosphere when they were at Maine Road but those days are long gone. With the team City have got, they don’t even need an atmosphere at times because they are a great side. When you’ve spent billions, you just expect to be winning each week without the need to intimidate the opponent.

A lot was said about Erling Haaland going into this game, but he was no match against Virgil van Dijk. For whatever reason, and he knows it, Virgil has not been at his best this season but Sunday was his best game for a long time. If you are to beat Man City, you all have to got be at least an eight out of ten and that’s what we were. They had a few opportunities, but so did we.

City clearly felt aggrieved by their goal being ruled out, but I don't think they can have too much to complain about in all honesty. In the game I played, you would get away with that foul. In today’s game, you can’t pull a shirt like that. I actually thought the referee did some really good things in the game by trying to let it flow, but it wasn't all perfect. One of the decisions that was missed was Bernardo Silva's foul on Mohamed Salah; I was in the gantry 200 yards away and even I saw it. The linesman was right next to it. There were some obvious ones he let go, but his intentions were good in the way he approached the match.

City spoil occasion again with vile chants and graffiti

Away from the brilliant football on show on Sunday, Manchester City supporters soured the occasion once again with their disgusting chants in relation to Hillsborough and Heysel. We saw it during the FA Cup semi-final between the teams in April and nothing has changed.

I feel for the families of those connected to Hillsborough, who have to listen to those horrendous chants. It's simply shocking. We have a lot of fans who sit by the away end and when this sort of thing happens in future, because it no doubt will, people should get their phone out and film the fans singing it, put it on the internet and shame them. That’s the only way you may be able to stop it. Maybe next time they would think about it before signing songs like that. I will be sharing any videos I see because there is no place for these people in football and they need to be banned.

Images have also emerged of graffiti inside the concourse area with references to Heysel and Hillsborough. Would those City fans do the same with Liverpool fans around? No. Put simply, those responsible are cowards.

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