Liverpool fans were granted a break from Jurgen Klopp’s side’s quadruple hunt during the March international break as the Reds rolled back the years with the latest Legends game at Anfield. Taking on Barcelona, supporters were treated to the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia pulling on that famous Red jersey once more, alongside an array of names spread across the Premier League era from Steve McManaman and Phil Babb to Maxi Rodriguez and Stewart Downing.
With the majority of the 21-man squad involved in media duties at some point or another over the course of the week in the build-up to facing the Catalans, they were able to reminisce about their Liverpool glory days as they caught up with former team-mates and tried to wow the Anfield crowd. But the Reds haven’t been the only club dusting off their old contacts book and using the international break to catch up with legends from yesteryear.
There might not have been a Legends match over at the Etihad, but Man City used the break to chat to Pablo Zabaleta and produce a lengthy feature interview with their old ‘Adopted Mancunian’. Spending nine years at the club, winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup, the Argentina international is a modern City legend and more than played his part in their transformation from mid-table fodder to champions of England, with a little help from Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi United Group's billions, of course.
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Speaking with his former club, the 37-year-old would recall his City highlights, most notably that FA Cup win in 2011 before lifting two Premier League titles. And with Pep Guardiola’s side currently locking horns with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, Zabaleta inevitably offered a reminder of the Reds’ title collapse in 2014 when talking through how he was able to win such medals.
“I feel we always kept believing that we were going to win the Premier League (in 2014). We played great football that season,” he recalled. “Liverpool were in a good moment and was a team that was a big contender, but I feel we always believed that the Premier League was for us…that was one of the reasons we won the league.”
Not much of an insightful reason behind City’s second title win, truth be told. They believed they would end the season as champions so wrestled the title away from Anfield, despite the fact that the Reds were five points clear at the top with three games left to play in 2014.
It’s hardly a science to such glory, is it? For all the legends that played at Anfield on Saturday, they too would have had belief that they would win the title themselves when challenging in 1996/97, 2001/02, 2008/09 and 2013/14. Yet Zabaleta and City already possessed something during that run-in that was missing from nearly all of the Liverpool legends 21-man squad’s collection - a prior Premier League winner’s medal.
But that’s where this current Reds crop are different as they look to chase down Guardiola’s men. Having won the Champions League together in 2019 before following it up with the Premier League title in 2020, they have that same belief that they will win and it’s backed up by previous elite glory, achieved together as a squad.
Man City achieved the unlikely when catching up and toppling Liverpool in 2014, though it is often overlooked how their games in hand exaggerated the Reds’ lead at the top at the time. Now eight years later and the roles are somewhat reversed.
Jurgen Klopp ’s trailed City by 14 points as recently as January 15. Aided by winning games in hand, they find themselves just a point behind with nine games left to play and with a potentially-decisive trip to the Etihad on the horizon.
Liverpool’s squad know what they have to do. Win at City and top spot should be theirs. Win all of their remaining Premier League matches and they will be crowned champions. But even if events don’t unfold that way, they will still share Zabaleta’s 2014 confidence that this season will be their year.
After all, the Argentine’s admission could now easily describe them in 2022. They will always keep believing they are going to win the Premier League and are playing great football. City are in a good moment and a big contender, but those inside Anfield will believe this year’s title should be theirs.
Throughout 2019/20, the Reds repeatedly denied they were thinking about the title when insisting they were only taking it a game at a time. Yet once the Premier League was officially won, they could be a little more honest when disclosing their true aspirations throughout the course of the season.
And it’ll be a similar story this year as they chase an unprecedented quadruple. It’s never been done before and realistically won’t be either this year, with Klopp repeatedly rubbishing any suggestion of Liverpool winning a full haul. But behind closed doors make no mistake, the Reds will see no reason why they can’t finish the season with four trophies to their name.
There is still plenty of football to be played and with City also standing in the way of potential FA Cup glory, they could still win a double at Liverpool’s expense. But the two clubs are, at the very least, the best the Premier League has to offer. With Champions League glory also in sights, they’ll both be hungry to emerge victorious on Europe’s elite stage too.
Whichever side falls short come May, they will not have failed. Instead, they are competing for honours at a time when the footballing gods have provided the toughest of adversaries to rival them every step of the way.
Both Liverpool and Man City have belief they can win and have the experience of titles to back that up too. And it’s why when the Premier League resumes after the March international break, just one point separates the two foes with this year’s race still far too close to call.
Those wearing Red will just have to hope that in the years to come, they are the ones able to recall how Liverpool beat Man City to the Premier League title in 2022 and reveal the secrets that made them champions. However unenlightening they might be.
