Pep Guardiola has always been one of football's great innovators, so it is no surprise that Manchester City's manager is already attempting to exploit the new law which allows defenders to receive the ball inside the penalty area from goal kicks.

Under-pressure recipients of goal-kicks could previously stop the game by stepping back into the penalty area, and the new rule aims to halt these stoppages and hand the initiative back to the attacking team. Attackers are still not allowed in the area until the goal kick has been taken.

Building play from the back with a structured and choreographed set-up is a hallmark of Guardiola's teams and in the first-half at Wembley on Sunday they rendered Liverpool's attempts to press obsolete.

It was not the first time City have tried to disconnect Liverpool's pressing machine with short passing inside their own penalty box - they did so very deliberately in a goalless draw at Anfield in the Premier League last season.

As John Stones revealed in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport last year, it was something City had trained meticulously for.

"It’s not your typical English football, is it?," Stones said. "It was to draw the press and create more space for the other lads. I don’t think we could do it with any other manager and how he coaches us to do it. It’s down to him and his ideas. He’s so detailed in what he wants and we all know where everyone is going to be so it kind of makes it easier for me."