Where Are the Stars of the Memorable 2015 Game? / A Look Back at the Last Liverpool–City Match Without Klopp and Pep

The last time City and Liverpool met without Pep and Klopp was in Esfand 1393 (March 2015). We want to see what has become of the players from that match.

According to Sports Three, last night's battle between Liverpool and Manchester City was held without the presence of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola after many years. Until last night, the last time we saw the Liverpool-City game without Pep and Klopp was March 2013. Let's go back to that day and reminisce.

For years, we used to see Liverpool and Manchester City matches as a direct duel between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. The German coach left Anfield at the end of the 2023-2024 season, and the Spanish coach ended his tenure in Manchester a few months ago. Last night's battle between the two teams in the sixth week of the Premier League, which ended with the Citizens winning 3-0 with goals from Erling Holland in the 65th minute, Jeremy Duko in the 68th minute and Ryan Shirkey in the 78th minute, and of course the dismissal of Ryan Gravenbrech in the 62nd minute. The end of a magnificent and memorable evening.

To review the last time the two teams met without these two head coaches, we have to go back to March 2015, March 2013. The days when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of Liverpool and Manuel Pellegrini was sitting on the Manchester City bench.

Two teams faced each other in the 27th week of the Premier League. City was on course for the championship and Liverpool was fighting for a place in the Champions League. Pegherini's men were in second place in the table and were chasing leaders Chelsea by five points. On the other side, Rogers' situation was not so favorable. The Reds were in sixth place, although only two points adrift of fourth place. What's more, the Merseysiders had been knocked out of the Europa League just hours before the match, following a breathless marathon in Istanbul and a penalty shoot-out defeat to Besiktas.

The Liverpool convoy had returned home at four and a half on Friday morning, and Rogers' students had less than three days to prepare before this critical meeting. However, the trip to Anfield was always going to be a complete nightmare for Manchester City. Before that match, the Citizens had not managed to win in 13 consecutive games at Anfield and this stadium was the only grass in the Premier League where City had not tasted victory since the transfer of ownership to Sheikh Mansour in 2008.

That match ended with Liverpool winning 2-1. In the 11th minute, Philippe Coutinho, who was rested in the exhausting fight in Istanbul, stole the ball from Vincent Kompany, who was celebrating his 200th game for City in the Premier League, and Raheem Sterling got the ball with a precise pass to Jordan Henderson. The English midfielder, who wore the captain's armband due to Steven Gerrard's injury, targeted Joe Hart with a spectacular shot at the top corner of the goal. This goal made City's game more aggressive. Sergio Aguero's shot hit the goalpost and in the 25th minute, the Argentinian striker's pass reached Edin Dzeko and the Bosnian striker calmly scored the equalizing goal.

In the second half, Aguero's header was wasted and Adam Lallana's goal was disallowed due to Martin Eskertel's offside. Finally, in the 75th minute, Coutinho's spectacular and unstoppable shot landed in the corner of the goal and Liverpool took a 2-1 lead. In the final minutes, Daniel Sturridge wasted a great opportunity after entering the field, and David Silva's shot did not hit the goal, and finally the spell of Anfield remained for City.

Manuel Pegrini said at the end of that match: "We lost a lot of balls in the first half, especially in the first fifteen minutes. After conceding the goal, we were able to tie the game and dominate the game, but in the second half, we failed to reach their penalty area. We had many problems. Liverpool scored two beautiful goals. It was a high-pressure match and Liverpool performed brilliantly and deserved to win. I'm worried about the whole team, because you shouldn't lose so many balls against quality and technical players. "To improve the quality of the game, we have to analyze many points."

Brendan Rodgers was also satisfied with his team: "A brilliant result and an equally wonderful performance. We fully deserved this victory. The players tried their best on the field and played a great game. I am very happy. Some of you reporters know what it means to get home at half past four in the morning. It is not easy to prepare the team in such conditions to face the defending champions of the Premier League. "You have to appreciate the effort of the kids and I am proud of them today." At the end of that season, City finished second, eight points clear of Chelsea, but Liverpool lost five times in their next eleven games to finish sixth and not finish in the top four.

The fate of the Liverpool stars in that match

Simon Mignolet was in Liverpool's goal. He stayed at Anfield until 2019 and then went to Club Brugge. Winning the Champions League with Liverpool and the 2018 World Cup bronze medal with Belgium were his biggest honors. This defender retired from football at the age of 38 and at the end of the 2025-2026 season.

Dejan Lovren played 185 games for Liverpool, his most appearances for one club. The Croatian defender joined Zenit in 2020, scoring three goals in 63 appearances and winning the Russian league three times, while previously winning the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool. He joined Pauk Greece in 2023 and stayed in this team until the end of last season, and these days he is a free agent at the age of 37.

Slovakian defender Martin Eskertel played 320 matches with the red shirt and then played in Fenerbahçe, Atalanta, Istanbul Basaksehir and Spartak Trnava teams. After retirement, he was in the amateur category for some time and in March 2025, he became the sports director of Spartak Ternava and even temporarily managed this team in five matches.

Emre Jan left the Reds in 2018, and after that he wore the shirt of Juventus and Dortmund. The midfielder's contract with the Bees is valid until the summer of 2027, and he is currently recovering from a cruciate ligament tear.

The captain of that competition, Jordan Henderson, played 492 games for Liverpool and left for Saudi Arabia in 2023 to join Steven Gerrard, although his stay in the Middle East lasted just six months. After the termination of the contract, he returned to Europe and played for Ajax and Brentford and joined Chelsea in the summer of 2026. Henderson broke his wrist at the 2026 World Cup after jumping over billboards and missed the start of the current season.

Philippe Coutinho, who was bought from Inter for 13 million euros and sold to Barcelona five years later for a huge figure of 135 million euros, after the ups and downs in Spain, spent loan periods in Bayern Munich and Aston Villa, and then the English club bought him for 20 million euros. After loan spells at Al Duhail and Vasco da Gama, Coutinho joined Brazil's Santos in September 2026 to play alongside Neymar and has so far gone two matches without registering a single impact.

38-year-old midfielder Adam Lallana, who left Anfield as a Premier League and Champions League champion in 2020, will hang up his boots in 2025 after playing for Brighton and Southampton. He turned to coaching and took charge of Southampton's youth team first on a temporary basis and then on a permanent basis.

Raheem Sterling left for Manchester City a few months after that match with a transfer of 63.7 million euros. He won the Premier League four times in 339 matches and then joined Chelsea and Arsenal. Sterling moved to Feyenoord in February 2026 and played only eight games and is currently without a team at the age of 31.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers replaced Klopp in October 2015. After that, he managed Leicester City and Celtic in two periods and won the Scottish championship four times, and these days he is sitting on the bench of Al-Qadisiya in the Saudi professional league.

The fate of Manchester City stars in that match

City goalkeeper Joe Hart moved to Torino in 2016 and then played for West Ham, Burnley, Tottenham and Celtic. He retired in 2024 and currently works as a pundit on British television networks.

After 333 matches for City, Argentine right-back Pablo Zabaleta left for West Ham in 2017 and retired from football in 2020. He was Silvinho's assistant on the bench of the Albanian national team from 2023 to 2026.

Vincent Kompany returned to Anderlecht after 360 games for the Citizens and retired with the same team. He started his coaching career in Anderlecht, then shone with Burnley, and from 2024 he is the head coach of Bayern Munich.

After playing 247 games for City, Alexander Kolarov went to Italy in 2017 and wore the shirt of Roma and then Inter. In the summer of 2025, he joined Christian Kivu's technical staff at Inter as a coach and is currently working for the Nerazzurri.

Yahya Toure and Fernandinho were City's midfield pair in that match. In 2018, Toure went to Olympiakos in Greece and then to Qingdao in China. After retirement, in 2021, he joined Andrey Talalaif's technical staff at Ahmed Grozny and then became Roberto Mancini's assistant at Standard Liège and the Saudi national team. In the summer of 2026, Toure took over the leadership of the Slovan Bratislava team in the European Champions League. After 378 games, Fernandinho left City for Atletico Paranaense in 2022 and officially retired from football in 2025 to focus on family life.

Samir Nasri was loaned to Sevilla in 2016 and after returning to Antalyaspor, he retired in 2021 after playing for West Ham and Anderlecht and is currently an expert on French TV.

David Silva left the Etihad to join Real Sociedad in 2020 after 436 games and will be sidelined in 2023 due to a torn cruciate ligament, but the 40-year-old recently signed a short-term contract with Hong Kong club Shatin after missing football.

40-year-old striker Edin Dzeko still has a contract with Schalke despite saying goodbye to the national team. After leaving City, he played in Rome, Inter, Fenerbahçe and Fiorentina.

Having recorded 390 matches for City, Sergio Aguero left for Barcelona in 2021 but was forced to retire early due to heart problems and is now focusing on his business projects and has no desire to coach.

After leaving this club in 2016, Manuel Pegrini went to Hebei China Fortune and returned to England with West Ham in 2018. He has been in charge of Real Betis since 2020. The 73-year-old coach is still on the Betis bench in the European Champions League.