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The defending champions ran roughshod over the newly-crowned champions as Manchester City recorded a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad on Thursday.
The contest was effectively ended by the midway point, with first-half goals from Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden giving the Mancunians a 3-0 lead at half-time. An Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal midway through the second half then condemned the Merseysiders to their heaviest defeat in almost three years.
Given the marquee nature of the fixture, a closely-contested game was expected and it came as no surprise when both managers fielded their strongest sides. However, in rather surprising scenes, Manchester City seized the initiative from the get-go and were good value for their win.
Here, we shall be having a rundown of five major talking points from the exciting fixture at the Etihad.
#1 Kevin de Bruyne re-establishes claim for PFA POTY
Despite not getting as many rave reviews as his talents and performances deserve, Kevin de Bruyne is the best midfielder in the world in the eyes of keen observers of the game and he has held this distinction for a while.
Two seasons ago, he was the major driving force behind Manchester City's magnificent Premier League triumph. Proof of his otherworldly abilities lies in the fact that he is the only guaranteed starter for Pep Guardiola who is notorious for his rotation policy, while he is also the attacking fulcrum of the Manchester City machine.
This season, the Belgian international has taken his game to another level and despite being surrounded by a bunch of underperforming teammates, he has been heads and shoulders above every other player in the league.
So far, he leads the way in terms of assists, with 17 from 30 matches, while he has also scored 11 goals, making him the only player to have hit double figures in terms of both goals and assists in this season's Premier League.
However, the 29-year-old contributes much more than goals and assists. His all-round play and the ease with which he controls matches are a delight to watch, while his consistency also means that you can count on him to deliver when it matters most.
Against Liverpool, De Bruyne was at his destructive best, opening the scoring from the penalty spot after Raheem Sterling had been fouled in the area. He also registered a requisite assist with a deft layoff for Phil Foden to fire past Alisson.
He could have had a couple of assists more if not for wasteful finishing by Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus. On a night when most of his rivals for the PFA Player of the Year were on the field, De Bruyne showed the world that he has indeed been the best player in the Premier League this season.
#2 Manchester City send a statement of intent to the rest of the league
The game started with the hosts suffering the ignominy of giving their visitors a guard of honour and while it was not guaranteed, Pep Guardiola insisted that his players would give Liverpool the honour, which is no less than the Merseysiders deserve for what was a breathtaking campaign.
Over the last two seasons, Manchester City had been the most dominating team in the Premier League and it was expected that they would still be in the running to make it a three-peat this term.
However, in inexplicable scenes, the Cityzens unravelled, such that their title defence was effectively over by Christmas, with Liverpool being crowned champions in record-breaking style.
Manchester City, however, remain an elite side and have shown their superiority in games against Arsenal and Burnley post-lockdown, with Jurgen Klopp himself admitting that it was unbelievable that his side were 25 points ahead of this incredible team.
Despite his modesty, Klopp's men themselves are no pushovers and their performance throughout this season has been breathtaking, with their 4-0 demolition of Crystal Palace (where they became the first side to prevent the opposition from getting a touch in their box since Opta started gathering data) serves as proof of their dominance.
However, against Manchester City, they were utterly blown away and struggled to impose their gameplan, with Ederson practically a spectator for most of the match as the Liverpool attackers were on the peripheries of the game, apart from a first-half effort by Mo Salah that struck the post.
Despite their limp title defence, Manchester City would be raring to go again next season and the ease with which they dispatched the best team in the land shows that this campaign was something of an anomaly.
#3 Uncharacteristic errors by Liverpool players
Jurgen Klopp has gotten immense praise for his transformation of Liverpool and rightly so, but credit must also go to the players who have upped the ante throughout the campaign.
It goes without saying that Liverpool are deserving champions and the coach has described his players as 'mentality monsters' who remain as hungry and driven as ever for victory.
However, against Manchester City, they were far from their best, with virtually all the players performing significantly beneath their usual standards.
There were several individual errors that were punished by the Manchester City players, with Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Fabinho the most guilty culprits.
#2 Raheem Sterling scores first goal against Liverpool
Raheem Sterling came through the ranks at the Liverpool academy and there was no love lost when he completed an acrimonious transfer to Manchester City in 2015. However, fans of the Kop have used every opportunity since then to give him stick.
A particularly feisty incident between him and Joe Gomez in the first leg last November was a source of joy for Liverpool fans, who used that as a reference point in the buildup to this fixture.
Sterling, however, had the last laugh, as he constantly got the better of Gomez in Thursday's game, finally winning a penalty off the English defender, while also breaking his duck against his former side.
#1 Phil Foden takes a huge step towards cementing a first-team spot
It is no secret that the Manchester City first team is immensely stocked with talent and the competition for places is so intense that several talented youngsters have left the Etihad in search of first-team football elsewhere.
The Manchester City academy is one of the finest in the world and has produced some incredible youngsters in recent years but the pick of the bunch was Phil Foden, with Pep Guardiola so enamoured by his abilities that he flatly refused to sanction his sale.
The 20-year-old has slowly been integrated into the first team over the last two years, even though his progress has been slower than expected due to the presence of multiple world-beaters ahead of him.
The departure of David Silva at the end of this season opens up a world of opportunity for Foden and he has done his chances of becoming a starter next season a world of good with his performances since the resumption of football activities.
Having scored and assisted in the 4-0 rout of Burnley last week, the England youth international was rewarded with another start and he once again impressed his manager with a rounded display, grabbing an assist and a well-taken goal that belies his age.
