Jurgen Klopp refuses to accept Liverpool as favourites against Manchester City, despite the Reds holding a 3-0 advantage. (1:21)
Liverpool's team bus arrived at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium without incident, fulfilling Pep Guardiola's earlier prediction that it would not be subjected to the same violent welcome that City's transport endured.
The sides meet for their Champions League quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday with Liverpool 3-0 ahead from the first leg at Anfield.
Liverpool bus arriving at the Etihad Stadium. Fair to call it low key. pic.twitter.com/7GJFoj9Vlf — Matt Critchley (@MattCritchley1) April 10, 2018
Ahead of that match Liverpool fans threw bottles and cans and aimed fireworks at the Manchester City bus, resulting in damage that meant it was unable to complete the return journey.
"Since I am here [bad behaviour] has never happened in this stadium," Guardiola said. "The police know what they have to do. Opponents arrive in the right way. It's not going to happen."
Manchester City later arrived to the reception of a few hundred fans.
AP Photo/Rui Vieira
The Telegraph reported that although there was confidence no repeat of last week's incidents would take place, extra stewards and police patrols were deployed due to Greater Manchester Police designating the game as high-risk.
"As with all high-profile games such as this, we have also carried out intelligence gathering beforehand and will continue to work with both clubs and supporter groups to ensure all fans can enjoy the match in a competitive but safe environment," the Times reported Chief Inspector Dean Howard, the match commander, as saying.
Liverpool have been charged by UEFA for the attack on the City team bus and the club have subsequently asked their supporters not to bring pyrotechnics to the game and warned they are at risk of further sanctions or even the match being abandoned.
"Liverpool FC would like to remind supporters that flares, smoke bombs and pyrotechnics are illegal and prohibited," an official statement said. "Any individual who is found taking these items into the stadium are liable to arrest.
"The use of such devices breaches ground safety regulation and poses serious risk of injury to fellow fans and serious health risks. Amnesty bins will be located outside the visiting section of the Etihad on Tuesday."
Meanwhile, City have taken measures to prevent Liverpool supporters sitting in the home end at the Etihad Stadium by only allowing people who have purchased a ticket for a previous game to buy one for this match.
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Roberto Firmino socred Liverpool’s record-breaking goal against Manchester City (Picture: SPORTSPHOTO)
Liverpool booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in a decade and in the process beat a long-standing record held by Manchester United.
Roberto Firmino’s goal was Liverpool’s 33rd goal of the current campaign, one better than United’s total in 2002-03, meaning Jurgen Klopps’s side have now enjoyed the most prolific season in Europe’s premier club competition of any English side.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg at Anfield a week ago, Liverpool made the worst possible start to the second leg of their quarter final tie against Manchester City with Gabriel Jesus hauling his side back into the contest inside two minutes.
32 – Liverpool have scored 32 goals in the Champions League this season – the joint-most by an English side in a single campaign alongside Man Utd (32 in 2002-03). Unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/GSzqFxyRQA — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 10, 2018
Roberto Firmino put Liverpool ahead on the night and 5-1 in front on aggregate (Picture: PA)
Liverpool weathered the subsequent storm, albeit slightly fortuitously with Leory Sane’s goal wrongly ruled out for offside and Bernardo Silva hitting the post with a ferocious strike.
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Klopp reorganised his troops at the break with Mohamed Salah redeployed through the middle and the change paid almost immediate dividends with the prolific Egyptian effectively killing the tie with an impudent finish in the 56th minute.
City’s momentum was killed stone dead and it took another 20 minutes for Firmino to score the record breaking goal, capitalising on a Nicolas Otamendi’s mistake and rolling the ball past Ederseon.
81'
City have the ball in the net but once more Sane is offside. This time he's *just* offside.
Liverpool subs: Firmino and Alexander-Arnold off, Klavan and Clyne on.
Media playback is not supported on this device Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp Liverpool deserved to win Champions League tie
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says his side "came through the whirlwind" as they beat Manchester City at the Etihad to seal their place in the last four of the Champions League.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg, the Reds fell behind at the start of a first half dominated by the home side.
But the visitors battled back to win 2-1 and claim a 5-1 aggregate win.
"We scored five against Man City and only conceded one. These numbers are usually not possible," said the German.
"The boys found a solution in the second half. We had two or three opportunities in the first half already, so it was easy for me and the boys to see the development of the game. We had come through the whirlwind."
Gabriel Jesus' early goal hinted at a Manchester City fightback, but it never materialised as they struggled to find that clinical edge in the final third.
Instead, Mohamed Salah's 39th goal in a sensational season put Liverpool in control before Roberto Firmino's composed finish secured Liverpool's first Champions League semi-final appearance in a decade.
'Man City v Barcelona a normal final... now they are out'
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet tweeted a picture of the dressing room after the game
Liverpool last reached the final in the 2007-08 season and their hopes of going all the way in this year's competition have perhaps been raised by the shock elimination of Barcelona.
The Spanish giants lost 3-0 in Italy on Tuesday night, with Salah's former side Roma progressing on away goals following a 4-4 aggregate draw.
Klopp said of Barcelona's exit: "I walked up the stairs and somebody told me. I thought it was a joke.
"Not to disrespect Roma. They lost Salah and are in the semis. That's something else.
"This competition is quite fair and I really think a normal final would have been Manchester City against Barcelona, and now they are both out.
"But there will still be two other really strong teams in there plus Roma and us. We will see what happens but that's not the thing I have to think about right now."
'We have to recover mentally'
City boss Pep Guardiola urged his players to "recover mentally" from their worst week of the season after a third straight defeat.
As well as losing both legs to Liverpool, City missed the chance to wrap up the Premier League title when they lost to Manchester United last Saturday.
City have a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League table and it is only a matter of time before they are crowned champions of England.
Guardiola is demanding one last push from his players, who face Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday evening.
"Now we have go to Tottenham and we have to recover mentally," said the Spaniard.
"The first half we did absolutely everything.
"Three at the back, created chances, controlled the counter attack perfectly. The second half was quite different.
Pep Guardiola escorts his players off the pitch after they surrounded the referee at the end of a controversial first half
Guardiola said City were on the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions against Liverpool.
Leroy Sane had a goal, which would have made it 2-0 to City on the night, controversially disallowed while Guardiola felt his side should have had a penalty for Andrew Robertson's challenge on Raheem Sterling.
Guardiola was sent to the stand after complaining to Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz at the end of the end of the first half.
"I said he was wrong," added Guardiola when asked about his dismissal. "I didn't insult him. I just said it was a penalty and it was a goal.
"The ball for Sane came from James Milner. He said, 'From Milner it came?'. 'Yes, from Milner'.
"When it comes from Milner it is not offside, and we go to half-time 2-0. Two-nil against that team is a little bit different.
"In these kind of games, in these competitions, the impact is so big."
'We have to be better in the next round'
Media playback is not supported on this device Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool: Pep Guardiola referee was wrong to disallow Sane 'goal'
Despite a handsome aggregate win, Milner said Liverpool have to be better whoever they are drawn against in the semi-finals.
"Everyone knows how good Manchester City are so to beat them is a good confidence builder," said the former City player.
"But we have to be better in the next round.
"We got about them a bit more in the second half, kept the ball slightly better and were more composed. That's the key, it's what you have to do against these sorts of teams."
City's Brazilian forward Jesus said: "It's difficult to take.
"We played badly over the two games and Liverpool got the result so congratulations to them."
