Pep Guardiola has maintained that the biggest challenge throughout his managerial career was facing Jurgen Klopp‘s Liverpool.
In the days when games were not defined by set-pieces, long throws and time-wasting, but instead fast transitions, killer punches and unyielding intensity, Liverpool and Man City sat top.
Guardiola and Klopp’s battles moved from Germany to England, and their mutual respect remained from start to finish, and beyond.
After City were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate, Guardiola was asked by the Spanish press if Los Blancos were the biggest challenge of his career.
His response was swift, perhaps due to the number of times the Reds drove him towards insanity!
“No, no. Jurgen Klopp‘s Liverpool [was my biggest challenge],” Guardiola replied in Spanish, as translated by Marca.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, October 3, 2021: Manchester City's manager Josep 'Pep' Guardiola reacts during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“You were in Spain, you didn’t know what that was like. Real Madrid…They’ve knocked us out more, but they know how we’ve played.”
Although Real Madrid have knocked Man City out of European competition in three consecutive seasons, Guardiola’s battles with Klopp remain untouched when it comes to his greatest managerial challenge.
In 21 competitive matches across all competitions between Liverpool and City, Klopp oversaw eight victories and Guardiola six, with the remaining seven ending in a draw.
What Jurgen Klopp has said about Pep Guardiola
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - Saturday, July 30, 2022: Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp (R) and Manchester City's manager Josep 'Pep' Guardiola during the FA Community Shield friendly match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at the King Power Stadium. Liverpool won 3-1. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
In the final months of his storied Anfield reign, Klopp paid tribute to Guardiola and how he made him a “better manager.”
“Pep is the best manager in the world. I have a really good life being not even close to that,” Klopp said in early 2024.
“I don’t know how I could judge managers from the past, but in my lifetime he’s the outstanding manager. I see excellence when I face it, and Pep is definitely that.
“I was never frustrated. I knew around about 3,000 footballers who were better than me and I still loved the game; the others who were better than me, I didn’t know them.
“I just got told I have a positive record against Pep… I have no clue how that happened to be honest.
“It made me a better manager trying to find solutions. I know I’m quite good at what I’m doing as well, I don’t want to sound like, ‘Oh my God, I’m just happy to be here’, but you ask me about the best: he’s the best. Bam.”