MANCHESTER, England -- Applauded onto the pitch and then hunted down and chased off it -- some guard of honour that turned out to be for Liverpool at Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's players delivered a dual statement of intent with an emphatic 4-0 victory over the newly crowned champions on Thursday.
Such has been Liverpool's dominance of the 2019-20 season that this result will do nothing to diminish the magnitude of their achievement. They are still 20 points clear of closest challengers City and remain on course to break the 100-point barrier and all sorts of other milestones, including most wins and biggest winning margin, having already sealed the title quicker than any other club in Premier League history.