'They drank a lot of beers': Manchester City hammered Premier League winners Liverpool 4-0, and manager Pep Guardiola had a theory why the champions were so bad

• Manchester City's manager, Pep Guardiola, says the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool FC must have drunk "a lot of beers" after his side beat the Reds 4-0 on Thursday night.
• Liverpool was crowned champion for the first time last week but sank to a miserable defeat in Manchester in its first game since.
• The performance led to questions over Liverpool's attitude, to which head coach Jurgen Klopp did not take kindly.
• "If you want to lead the story in the direction that we were not focused on that game, then do it," the coach said after, according to Sky Sports. "Why do you ask me if we had decent chances? It makes no sense this question."

On Thursday night, just days after being crowned English Premier League champions for the first time, Liverpool FC sank to a miserable 4-0 defeat at the hands of the second-place club Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola thinks he knows why.

"I think they drank a lot of beers in the last week,'' the City manager said, according to The Independent. "But they arrived here with no beers in their blood, which is why I give us a lot of credit."

The rout at Etihad Stadium began 25 minutes in when Kevin de Bruyne converted from the penalty spot for his 11th goal of the season.

Raheem Sterling, who signed for City from Liverpool in 2015, doubled his side's advantage 10 minutes later before the highly rated English youngster Phil Foden made it 3-0 with a sublime finish on the stroke of halftime.

City scored its fourth in the 66th minute, when Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain diverted the ball into his own net.

"We beat the champions, an extraordinary team," Guardiola added. "They are the best team I've faced in my life at high pressing. The way they use that mechanism is incredible.

"They are brave to play, we are brave to play. They had a good chance with [Mohamed] Salah at the start, but after that we played very well."

Liverpool's performance led to questions from reporters on the team's attitude, to which Klopp did not take kindly.

"If you want to lead the story in the direction that we were not focused on that game, then do it," the coach said following a question from Sky Sports' Geoff Shreeves.

"I like my team how they set up. I said that and I thought that was clear. I think we proved that point. And City proved they are an unbelievably good team. Isn't it nice that another team can be champions even when City is around and plays this kind of football?

"City are incredible. I've seen their games — they haven't played a bad game all season. Even when they lost they still played really good football. But in the end the situation is like it is.

"We had moments. You watched the game completely calm — why do you ask me if we had decent chances? It makes no sense this question."

He added: "All is OK. It's not nice, it's not what we wanted. I wanted to see we had the right attitude, and we did, so I'm fine. And the result we have to take."

Liverpool next play Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday. A win would move it within 11 points of the Premier League's point record, which was set by City in 2018-2019, with five games still to play.

• Read more:
• Premier League broadcaster Sky Sports wants to ban announcers from using certain words after a study showed racial bias in football commentary
• Arson, riots, and a severed pig's head: These 20 players dared to cross the divide and play for both clubs in some of soccer's biggest rivalries
• Referees in soccer are stricter without fans in the stadium to jeer or cheer their calls, a new study finds
• Liverpool sealed its first ever Premier League title after a stunning Christian Pulisic goal for Chelsea made it impossible for anyone to catch the champions-elect