Article by Matthew Davies @matty95daviesTake yourself back to 3rd May 2005 and Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final against Chelsea.The match itself was obviously enormously important to both clubs; there was a place in the final of Europe’s most elite football competition on the line. With hindsight however, that game was also key to the emergence of a unique rivalry with our meetings often playing a decisive role in determining our respective success.We were two of the country’s top sides when we met in that semi-final and Chelsea had already beaten the Reds in that year’s league cup final. That was the game when Jose Mourinho riled the travelling Liverpool support by motioning for them to shush after his side’s late equaliser. By the time we met in Europe, Chelsea had already been crowned Premier League champions.Liverpool had been less impressive in the league but somewhat of a revelation in Europe, having eliminated a Juventus side containing the likes of Pavel Nedved, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Del Piero in the previous round.The Reds put Chelsea out thanks to a Luis Garcia goal and in subsequent years, we seemed to constantly play them in massive games. So much so, that at one point, it felt like if we were ever going to win a cup, we had to knock Chelsea out first.The rivalry and animosity with Chelsea is still there, bubbling under the surface, but it has diminished somewhat. It did seem to rear its head again in 2014 though when Mourinho, in his second reign as Chelsea boss, masterminded his side’s 2-0 win at Anfield to effectively end all hopes of us winning our first ever Premier League title. However, it hasn’t felt as intense or meaningful as it used to for quite a while.The beneficiaries of Chelsea’s win that day, when our title hopes were put to bed, were Manchester City. Their burgeoning rivalry with the Reds has perhaps gone under appreciated; in terms of both size and significance. In recent years, and right now in fact, it feels as though they’re the team we constantly have to beat to achieve any sort of success in much the same way that it used to be Chelsea.It’s not just because they’re the champions either. I never remember feeling the same way about Arsenal when they were winning all sorts as I do now about City, or how I did previously about Chelsea. And there’s similarities between the the two as well.City used the financial might of their owners to establish themselves as the country’s most dominant club just like Chelsea did with Abramovich’s backing from 2003 onwards.In recent years, both Liverpool and City have appointed two of Europe’s finest young managers. Just like the Reds and Chelsea did back in 2004 with Benitez and Mourinho.Comparisons between the way in which Klopp usurped Bayern Munich with Borussia Dortmund can be made with Benitez’s breaking of the Real Madrid/Barcelona duopoly in Spain whilst Guardiola is widely considered the best manager in Europe. In many people’s eyes, he took up that mantle from Mourinho.There isn’t such an obvious hatred between Jurgen and Pep as there was with Rafa and Jose but they were rivals in Germany where they went toe-to-toe with one another for the Bundesliga title. They’re definitely not strangers.Parallels can also be drawn between our Champions League tie against City last year and the one against Chelsea in 2005. Like Chelsea, Guardiola’s men came to Anfield as favourites to progress, having already won the league cup. Whilst City weren’t Premier League champions at this point, they would be crowned as such less than two weeks later.On both occasions, the Reds overcame their opponents in what were two very memorable European nights at Anfield. In the aftermath of the 2005 semi-final, Mourinho harped on about the controversial “ghost goal” while the bus incident at Anfield last year is, somehow, still making news today.And as in 2005, the City game felt like a defining point in a growing rivalry with a domestic club where, historically, there hadn’t really been one before. Furthermore, it seems that our success now hinges on our ability to get one over on City in a fashion that has never been the case previously; just as it felt back then with Chelsea.After beating them in 2005, we would meet again in the FA Cup semi-final of 2006, the Champions League semi of 2007 and two more Champions League ties in 2008 and 2009.Similarly, we had to beat City in 2012 to set up that year’s league cup final with Cardiff. They pipped us to the league in 2014, in the year we came closest to ending our wait for a league title for more than 20 years. And when we beat them that season at Anfield, thanks to a Philippe Coutinho winner, observers were calling it our biggest league game since the title decider of 1989.After that, they beat us in the league cup final in 2016 and we obviously had to knock them out last year in order to get to Kiev.Now this season, many City fans feel as though we’re the biggest threat to their chances of making it two premier league titles on the bounce, and Jurgen Klopp will know that they’re the team to beat if we’re to make good on this early-season promise and win the big one.You can even draw parallels between the way in which Chelsea and City have courted and approached our star players too; which added a bit of needle to our games against them. Think Gerrard, Torres, Meireless and Sterling. That didn’t seem to happen with United or Arsenal when they were dominating English football.Perhaps City are set to take up the adversarial role that Chelsea used to occupy then. Our ability to get one over on them may prove to be as vital to our achievements over the coming years as was the case with Mourinho, John Terry, Drogba et al during the Benítez era.It’s been much observed that, even at this early stage, the run of games we currently find ourselves in could have a significant impact on our overall league and cup campaigns this season. It’s only right that it ends with a showdown with Manchester City at Anfield then.In the words of Clive Tyldesley in Istanbul: “Hello! Hello! Here we go!”Article by Matthew Davies @matty95daviesWant more LFC content? We have you covered! Start your FREE month trial for theredmentv.com now!???? 16+ PODCASTS P/MONTH
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