Julián Álvarez starts with goal and sadness: Manchester City could not beat Liverpool in the first final of the year

As if the last 69 days had been nothing more than a blink of an eye, Manchester City and Liverpool, the two stellar rulers of the last five years in English football, have taken things back as they left them: fighting for the title. That time, on May 22, the citizens they had remained in the Premier League in an unforgettable definition. This Saturday, at the beginning of the season, the ones who celebrated were the networkswho won 3-1 at the King Power Stadium in Leicester and thus won the Community Shield, which sees the Premier champion against the winner of the FA Cup. Despite the defeat, Julián Álvarez of Cordoba will not forget this duel, as he made his debut with the City and transforms the goal of his team.

We could not expect big surprises in the operation of two teams that have deeply rooted the ideas of their coaches (Jürgen Klopp at the beginning of his eighth season at Liverpool and Josep Guardiola, the seventh at City) and are used to combining precision and dizziness, muscles and neuron, patience and intensity. The questions revolved around how some major changes would play a role.

In a transfer market that remains open, City have lost players who had played a major role in Guardiola’s rotation in recent seasons such as Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and veteran Fernandinho. In return, he brought Norwegian star Erling Haaland, English midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Julián Álvarez.

Among the new ones, the only starter was Haaland. His presence will require adjustments in a team used to playing without the classic center forward. In the first half the former Borussia Dortmund striker (he screamed 85 times in 88 games with the German cast) broke away from his teammates, did not unbalance in the last meters and failed in the few occasions he had. In addition, his contribution was greater, even if far from his best days.

The networks In recent weeks they have also shrunk their campus. Among the outings, none will be more painful than that of Senegalese Sadio Mané, a fundamental player in the Klopp structure, who has chosen to leave for Bayern Munich. To replace him, Liverpool broke the bank and made the most expensive purchase in its history: added Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, top scorer of the last edition of the Portuguese league (he scored 26 goals), for which he paid to Benfica 75 million euros (the agreement provides for the payment of another 25 million in variables).

Núñez also started the duel on the bench (his moment of glory would come soon after), as did the young Portuguese Fabio Carvalho, a Fulham figure who got promotion to the Premier League last season. In place of Mané was Roberto Firmino, constantly delayed in associating with midfielders. Egyptian Mohamed Salah and Colombian Luis Díaz worried on the wings, supported by the climbs of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson.

Alexander-Arnold was in charge of breaking zero when the 20 minutes of the first half were played. In a maneuver that Diaz started on the left and Salah continued in the opposite lane, the right received at the edge of the area and sent a right that touched the head of Dutch Nathan Aké and hit the right post of the goal defended by the Brazilian Ederson.

After a first chapter in which his team had more time on the ball but had little fluidity in circulation against an opponent fast and orderly in the withdrawal and acute in attack, Guardiola renews his attack and offers Álvarez his first chance: the former – The River player entered on 13 ‘of the supplement together with Phil Foden (Jack Grealish and Algerian Riyad Mahrez left) and did not miss the opportunity.

On Friday, in an interview with ESPN, the Catalan coach said that Álvarez could live with Haaland in a closed-court formation. Pep raised from the exchanges, with the Argentine on the right and Foden on the left, both slightly behind the Norwegian. With that attacking triangle, to which the Portuguese Bernardo Silva was added, City went much deeper.

That’s why it’s no surprise that Celeste achieved equality at 25 minutes. After a Foden shot that goalkeeper Adrián San Miguel was unable to hold back, Álvarez was quicker than Cameroonian Joel Matip and nearly missed the net. The party was frozen for two minutes, as the managers of the video assistance system revised the maneuver for a possible advanced position at the beginning of the game, but in the end referee Craig Pawson ended up validating the first goal in Europe of the ‘ striker of the Argentine national team.

The fate of the duel then seemed to tend towards City, but Liverpool still strike at the best moment of their rival and after a very fast exit from their field: a header by Darwin Núñez (he had replaced Roberto Firmino) hits the right arm of the Portuguese Rúben Dias and, after another consultation with the VAR, Pawson penalized. Relentless, Salah nailed a low shot to the left post and put his team back in the lead.

Already in injury time and when City were desperate for the brown, another counterattack allowed Uruguayan Núñez to convert his first goal with the red jersey. Thus, Liverpool have won the Community Shield for the 16th time, which they had not won since 2006 (that time they had beaten Chelsea 2-1 in Cardiff). He also established himself in the only tournament he had played and until now he had not managed to win with Klopp in office: he had lost him in 2019 (against City) and in 2020 (against Arsenal).