Our Manchester City fans here in the Transfer Tavern are still in shock over a first half that seemingly has put the tie to bed. However, City this season have been spectacular to watch and many of the regulars in the bar wouldn’t be surprised to see a Barcelona-esque comeback next week in the reverse fixture.

Pep Guardiola must hatch a plan to replicate the 5-0 win at the Etihad in the Premier League when they entertain the Reds in the second leg of this enthralling Champions League quarter-final tie. If the Spaniard is to progress to the semi-final, then he has to take a look at his team and show a couple of the players the axe.

The punters in the pool room are hoping for more fireworks, much like the first half on Wednesday, and one goal for City early on could ignite this tie into one of the classics of recent years.

City didn’t give a bad account of themselves in the opening and ending of the game, and on their day, they definitely have the beating of Klopp’s men. With the Premier League wrapped up, all the focus for the rest of the season is on the holy grail of the Champions League. Should Guardiola mastermind a comeback and progress to the semi-final, the landlord and his staff will be very happy – although he has to surely axe these to stars in order to stand a chance…

Ilkay Gundogan

Gundogan looked utterly lost in the team after lining up on the right side of a midfield three, he often drifted inside to very little effect. The German didn’t defend well for the best part of an hour, and his replacement Raheem Sterling should be back to his familiar role come the second leg.

Liverpool’s high intense pressing game and attacking football may have been a little too much for the midfielder, and Guardiola may look to Sterling to provide more pace and guile to take advantage of openings in the Reds’ defence on the counter-attack.

Gabriel Jesus

The Brazilian never stopped but wasn’t being very productive in his work, it was clear the other night that Jesus sometimes needs to be more measured and smarter in his movement rather than running for running sake. It seemed very apparent that Sergio Aguero is the better option up front and can totally transform this team, should he get himself fit in time for the second leg from his recent injury.

The usually clinical striker may have been just having a day off, but when everything is on the line, a day off is not good enough.