Joleon Lescott has warned the way Saturday's FA Cup semi-final finished will have a greater psychological impact on Liverpool should they meet Manchester City in the Champions League final next month.
The title rivals played out a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Etihad in the Premier League a little over a week ago but at the weekend at Wembley it was Liverpool's day as they clinched a 3-2 victory to reach another domestic cup final. An Ibrahima Konate header a Sadio Mane double gave the Carabao Cup winners a comfortable 3-0 half-time lead but two goals from City after the break led to an intense end to the match.
And the sides could yet meet in the final of the Champions League, too. Pep Guardiola's team take on Real Madrid in their last-four clash while Liverpool will need to navigate a tie against Villarreal.
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Lescott, who made 160 appearances for the Manchester club after a controversial move from Everton, believes Saturday's encounter could have a greater impact on Liverpool and give City confidence heading into the latter stages of the league campaign.
“It was a crazy game but it was a much better second-half performance and I honestly think that will have had a bigger psychological impact on Liverpool if we were to meet in the Champions League final,” Lescott told mancity.com.
“If they’d won 3-0 and dominated for 90 minutes, that would have meant a different edge for both teams, but because we came out, put it to them and they didn’t really have any chances until the last few minutes – that was a massive performance from City in the second half.
“It’s hard to maintain winning games week in, week out and Pep has spoken about that, but we showed after half-time that when we get it right, we can beat any team. We don’t want to have too many first halves like the one we had against Liverpool but I think that will give us the momentum – that confidence and belief - to take into the Premier League."
Jurgen Klopp's side remain just one point behind City in the table as they return to league action this week. The Reds take on Manchester United at Anfield on Tuesday night before their rivals host Brighton on Wednesday.
