Alvarez impressed against Liverpool, he could make life difficult for Haaland

Nobody likes to start losing, but at Manchester City nobody will be crying foul after losing the Community Shield against Liverpool. A duel with which they cut the ribbon inaugurating a course marked by the celebration of the World Cup in winter.

Hence the early start. It was still in July, just over two months after the end of the previous season. Pep Guardiola opted to rest his players. City had only played two friendlies during their pre-season, and against Liverpool there were consequences. Rusty, lacking fluency and obviously lacking competitive pace. Both teams were far from what is expected to be their level. Despite the defeat, City have reason to console themselves.

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Mainly Julian Alvarez, who spoke about his teammate up front: "Erling Haaland is a great player, he scores a lot of goals and has been important at other clubs. I want to contribute by playing my game". Against Liverpool it was the Argentine who eclipsed the Norwegian. The former River Plate player opened his scoring account for Manchester City twelve minutes after entering the match. A fighter with a nose for goal. He prowled around Adrian's goal when Phil Foden tried to equalize. Eventually it was Alvarez who got hold of the loose ball to score.

He celebrated his goal in imitation of Argentine club legend Sergio Agüero. Darwin Núñez ended up becoming the protagonist, causing a penalty and getting the final 3-1 with which Jürgen Klopp won the only title missing in his collection since he arrived at Liverpool in October 2015.

Alvarez could compete with Haaland for a place in City's lineup

Haaland wasn't at the level. His teammates looked for him, but struggled to find him. Covered by the opposing backline and trying to hunt balls into the box that didn't necessarily have the best direction. When he had the ball, he could not take advantage of his corpulence and quality. He had three chances, and missed all three. The clearest, at the last minute. With Adrian lying on the turf, Haaland picked up a loose ball, but smashed it against the crossbar. His face at the end of the game was expressive. He was not happy. Nor will anyone connected with West Ham, the opponent against whom the Cityzen striker will be looking for revenge.