Pep Guardiola, throughout his respective stints at Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, has visited a plethora of iconic grounds around Europe – but he singled out one which is like 'no other stadium in the world'.
The 53-year-old is doubtlessly one of the greatest managers to ever grace the beautiful game and has a stacked trophy cabinet including three Champions League titles, six Premier Leagues and a trio of La Liga crowns to attest to his brilliance.
Over the years, thanks to his continuous involvement at Europe’s top table, there are not many stadiums on the continent in which Guardiola hasn’t visited in the capacity of manager, from Manchester United’s Old Trafford to the Fortuna Arena, the home of Slavia Prague.
But neither his current rival’s iconic stadium nor the exhaustive list of terrific venues on his CV can compete, in his eyes, with Liverpool’s Anfield, a ground he has found wins hard to come by in recent times.
Despite being competing rivals with the Reds for the best part of his spell in England, the Catalan has nothing but admiration for their stomping ground, Anfield, which is widely recognised as one of the most atmospheric stadiums in world football.
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Speaking to Catalonian publication Ara, per Sky Sports, about Barcelona's theatrical Champions League semi-final collapse in 2019 with the Spanish juggernauts losing 4-0 on Merseyside, Santpedor-born Guardiola described the Anfield atmosphere in poetic fashion.
Suggesting that the noise and aura around Liverpool’s tried and trusted home ground was nothing short of “special” and could make opponents feel "small", he said: "I thought they'd [Barcelona] score a goal at Anfield.
“And I am sure the players knew that Anfield is Anfield. The motto "This is Anfield" is no marketing spin. There's something about it that you will find in no other stadium in the world.
“They score a goal and over the next five minutes you feel that you'll receive another four. You feel small and the rival players seem to be all over. We've all gone through what happened to Barca."
Drawing on his personal experience of feeling the pressure of being under the Anfield lights, he recalled when his City side lost 3-0 against Jurgen Klopp and co. in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in 2018.
“They were laughing at me when we were losing 3-0 after the first 15–20 minutes of the quarter-final,” he said. "It's a bugger of a ground, and it's the sort of competition where one hand, one offside, Anfield…”