Manchester City were the first team to play new Premier League champions Liverpool, a week after handing them the title, and they welcomed them to the Etihad Stadium with the traditional guard of honour.
City's loss to Chelsea last week meant that Liverpool were uncatchable at the top of the table and secured their first league title in 30 years.
Before that game the Reds might have been eyeing up the chance to win the title at the previous champions' home ground but instead they were clapped onto the pitch by Pep Guardiola's team.
A 'Guard of Honour' for the newly crowned Premier League champions! 🔴🏆 Manchester City's players applaud tonight's opponents as they enter the pitch ahead of tonight's Premier League clash. Watch live on Sky Sports Premier League or follow: trib.al/yTYTy7K
The Reds are out to a guard of honour at the Etihad 👏🔴 #MCILIV
It wasn't quite as respectful as it might have been as Bernardo Silva seemed to walk off before all of the Liverpool team had walked past him.
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The guard of honour was also pretty underwhelming without fans in the ground.
There is no rule that says City had to welcome the new champions in such a way but the former Barcelona manager revealed last week that his team would, "We are going to do the guard of honour of course," said Guardiola.
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"We will greet Liverpool, when they come to our house, in an incredible way. We are going to do it because they deserve it."
With City still having an FA Cup semi-final and the Champions League to look forward to, as well as having to swallow some amount of pride, Guardiola easily could have pulled a trick out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book and picked a second string team.
Instead the former Bayern Munich boss respected the champions and sent out a full strength team, whilst Klopp, now chasing down his opponent's record 100 points total, also sent out his usual team.
For Raheem Sterling particularly it might not have been the most fun experience. The forward moved from Anfield to the Etihad Stadium in 2015 after falling out with the Reds.
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He also clashed with defender Joe Gomez when the two sides met in a 3-1 win for the champions, on the way to the title, back in November.
The clash eventually cost Sterling his place in the England team against Montenegro, after further issues with the Liverpool defender.
Liverpool's win in that first game between the two sides took them nine points ahead of the then champions and it was a position they never looked back on.
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From there the Reds' never had a gap any less to their closest rivals and their title win became inevitable long before it actually happened.
Klopp's team five wins from their final seven games to beat City's record points total from two seasons ago.
Will Liverpool break the record or will City help stop them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Manchester City, Liverpool, Football News, Manchester United, Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Joe Gomez, Jurgen Klopp, Raheem Sterling
