It was a result that no one expected. Sure, we predicted goals, we predicted entertainment but three goals and a clean sheet were not realistic expectations for an often shaky Liverpool defence.
Alas, that is what we got. Manchester City were a husk of the side we see regularly steamroll teams in the Premier League, and Liverpool blew them away with a clinical first half display.
The RTÉ panel were asked about City's capitulation, despite their dominance in the Premier League after the game and Eamon Dunphy pointed to 'the cult' surrounding Pep Guardiola:
A cult has built up around Pep Guardiola over the last several years, it is that he has some magical powers or that he is a great great coach, that is able to not just win trophies but transform the game. In other words, win trophies without paying attention to a great element of the game, which is defending. Maldini, Cannavaro, the great defenders in the history of the game, and he didn't have them at Munich, he didn't want them, he put Philip Lahm into midfield. Lahm was one of the best full backs in the world.
The RTÉ pundit then asked the question that if he didn't have such great attacking talent at his disposal would the Catalan have been as successful:
This is the question that remains unanswered about Pep Guardiola; can he do it without Messi, Xavi and Iniesta?
Dunphy went on to bemoan the standard of the Premier League, believing that it is the reason that there has been so much hype around the Manchester City team. Liam Brady also reckoned that a great side would have got a 0-0 at Anfield.
Manchester City were spectacularly off colour against the Reds, and while Dunphy's claims about Guardiola are a touch on the harsh side, his defence did have a night to forget.
