Adam Lallana confessed Liverpool’s players struggled to cope with their nerves ahead of the Champions League final.
The Reds were beaten 3-1 in Kiev in May as Jurgen Klopp was made to wait for his first trophy on Merseyside.
Lallana confessed to former Southampton teammate Gareth Bale, who scored twice from the bench in the final, that Liverpool’s players had been unable to sleep the night before the match.
“I was chatting to Adam Lallana after the Liverpool final and I asked him whether they’d been nervous the night before,” Bale told FourFourTwo.
“He told me they’d all been struggling to sleep. We’d all been really relaxed because we were so used to being in that situation.
“That gave us a big advantage as we knew how to deal with the emotions of everything surrounding a big final. Maybe Liverpool didn’t.”
Liverpool currently lead the way at the top of the Premier League but there have been suggestions in recent weeks that they are losing their nerve.
Klopp’s men have drawn their last two – against Leicester and West Ham, with City now three points behind the Reds.
But Bale believes Liverpool can go one better after their disappointment in Kiev.
“Liverpool look like a very good team,” he added. “They have been getting some really impressive results. They look even stronger now and they’ve improved defensively.”