New Man City Documentary Reveals How Pep Guardiola Planned to Stop Liverpool Forwards Last Season

Manchester City's new documentary which was recently released on Amazon Prime has given a fascinating insight into how Pep Guardiola planned to stop Liverpool's deadly front three last season.

Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah tore defences apart for fun last season and Liverpool ended up scoring 84 times in the Premier League, bettered only by Pep's City side.

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In the opening episode of the documentary, titled All or Nothing, Pep is seen preparing his players for the visit of Liverpool to the Etihad.

With the help of magnets on a whiteboard, the Spaniard shows his side just how to shut down Mane and Salah in particular. He identifies "closing the channels" as a key factor in keeping the wingers quiet and is also shown encouraging his full backs to stay tight to the touchline.

"Just focus today, when the ball is outside, close the channel. Mane and Salah, play in those positions, so when the ball is here (midfield) they make the move or put the ball here (the channel)," the Spaniard emphasised to his players, as reported by the Mirror.

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Staying on the touchline was conveyed as especially important by Guardiola, who wanted to make clear that it was harder for Salah and Mane to counter from wide positions as opposed to countering from a position further infield.

The instructions appeared to work, with City routing the Reds 5-0 after Sadio Mane received a straight red card for a high challenge on City goalkeeper Ederson. 

Pep's tactical skills are well renowned within world football, but this glimpse into life as one of his players showed just how much attention to detail he pays.