It has been a rivalry that has defined the last five years of English football and no other teams look likely to catch them any time soon.
Through a combination of near-perfect recruitment, expert administration and sublime coaching, Manchester City and Liverpool have left every other side in the Premier League — if not Europe — in the dust over the last half-decade. The two are on course to meet in this season's Champions League final which would set the notion in stone.
Regardless of whoever lifts the famous trophy and whoever runs out triumphant in yet another epic title race, there is very little to split the two. The rivalry may not go down as the most hostile or ferocious in Premier League history, but it's hard to argue that there have ever been two sides as good as these two locked into such an enthralling battle.
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We're just lucky that they're both around at the same time, as if it was just one of the sides then the Premier League would surely resemble the Bundesliga or Ligue 1 in which a single club has a stranglehold on the division. As iron sharpens iron, City and Liverpool have pushed themselves to greater and greater feats of accomplishments and so much of it is down to their managers.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp both define their teams. The football they both play is intrinsically linked to the managers — Guardiola with the intricate, highly-precise passing game; Klopp with his unrelenting, fast-paced counter-pressing style. Despite the differences, both managers have a special connection to their players, club hierarchy and supporters. That isn't easily recreated.
No other manager would be able to get the same results even with the same players in their place. That poses a massive problem for both clubs going forward.
Though they each have enough cash reserves and stock of world-class players to insulate themselves from any dramatic drop off in the event of their managers leaving, Guardiola or Klopp departing would still have a seismic effect on their clubs and the league at large.
You only need to glance at the continued and disastrous fall-out of Sir Alex Ferguson's departure from Manchester United to see the chaos that can ensue once a legacy manager who has become the embodiment of a club brings his time there to a close. It's a scary proposition and even the best replacement possible might not be enough.
This is why Liverpool have made the best signing they could possibly make this week, by securing Klopp's future. The German's previous deal was set to expire in 2024 but he has now committed to the club until 2026. As a result, Liverpool have practically ensured they will continue to be at the top of the table and reach final after final for the foreseeable.
Now City must respond. Guardiola's current contract is believed to expire in 2023 and there have been repeated rumblings he may call time on his storied stint at the Etihad sooner rather than later. The Catalonian has already spent longer in Manchester than he did as manager of Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Should City win the Champions League, then he would have nothing left to accomplish and could happily ride off into the sunset knowing he achieved everything he was asked.
But that would leave City in a perilous position. They may well have won it all but they can't just end things there. The never-ending cycle will begin anew and past triumphs will quickly fade if they're only followed by failure.
Guardiola's departure would be massive and potentially catastrophic. Though City are an expertly run club in the mould of Barcelona, it doesn't seem a successor is in place to seamlessly continue Guardiola's methods like there was at the Camp Nou. Mikel Arteta may well have been that but he departed for Arsenal and the current Under-23 manager, Brian Barry-Murphy, has only been at the club a year.
Finding a replacement in the manager market would be a near-impossible task and there would be no guarantee a replacement could pick up where Guardiola left off. Especially as Liverpool will have no such upheaval and will be primed to finally claim as many titles as they please without such ferocious competition.
Securing Guardiola's future, therefore, must be the club's biggest priority going into the summer. Bar none.
There is at least hope that Guardiola has only ever spoken about how happy he is in Manchester, which is no surprise as the club has been built from the ground up specifically to help him succeed. Also, reading between the lines, it's hard to see Erling Haaland wanting to sign for the club for only a single season working with Guardiola. Perhaps some guarantees could have been made?
Regardless, with Liverpool's period of excellence looking likely to continue under Klopp, City must ensure there's does too.
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