Wednesday 2 March 2016 07:36, UK
Vincent Kompany says it was a "natural reaction" to commiserate Liverpool's players before celebrating Manchester City's Capital One Cup victory on Sunday.
City claimed the fourth League Cup crown in their history by beating Liverpool 3-1 on penalties after the teams played out a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.
Kompany earned plaudits for consoling the Liverpool players before celebrating with his team-mates at Wembley and the City captain insists he felt for their cup final rivals.
"I didn't do it necessarily thinking of anything. It was just when we missed the first penalty I remember the feeling was just horrible," Kompany said.
"It was my first penalty shoot-out in a final and missing the first penalty I thought, 'two hours we've been fighting with each other and this is how we'll decide the winner'.
"When we actually started to turn things around I felt for some of the players that I knew from Liverpool. It was more of a natural reaction out of respect for a lot of players that I know.
"I didn't think it was such a major thing, but obviously people have seen it that way."
City face Liverpool again on Wednesday, this time in the Premier League at Anfield, as they attempt to get their title challenge back on track.
City have a poor record at Liverpool and have not won on any of their last 12 league visits, with their last victory at Anfield coming back in May 2003.
"It's hard to predict an Anfield away game because it's so difficult - that's just how it is," Kompany added.
"I'm sure if we manage to get a positive result at Anfield then we'll be able to maintain that and gain even more momentum.
"That would be an incredible achievement if we managed to go to Anfield and get a good result."
City, who currently sit in fourth-place in the table, have not played in the league for two-and-a-half weeks and have ground to make up after defeats in their last two outings to title rivals Leicester and Tottenham.
