Manchester City have given Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of their clash at the Etihad Stadium tonight.
As is tradition, Pep Guardiola and his side lined up to applaud their opponents onto the pitch before kick-off after City's loss to Chelsea on Thursday confirmed the Reds as Premier League champions.
Reds captain Jordan Henderson and his teammates appeared to thoroughly relish every moment as they took the acclaim of City, who were magnanimous throughout the procedure.
Guardiola had previously made it clear that his side would be saluting their rivals, saying last week: "We are going to do the guard of honour of course.
"We will greet Liverpool, when they come to our house, in an incredible way. We are going to do it because they deserve it."
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, though, had insisted it was not necessary, saying: "I’m not sure if I’ve ever had one. It was a long time ago in Germany. I don’t know if it’s a tradition in Germany. It’s a nice gesture – 100 per cent.
"I don’t need it, to be honest. We go there to play a football game and win a football game. We don’t celebrate a thing that happened a week before."
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy recently caused controversy with his view on the guard of honour.
He told talkSPORT: "Kevin De Bruyne is the best midfielder, probably, in the world, and he's clapping his hands and giving a guard of honour to players who can't even lace his boots," while he also called the tradition a "load of nonsense."
He has since apologised for his comments, however, saying he has nothing but "admiration and respect" for Liverpool and their players.
