Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, is clear about his strongest rival: Liverpool. The ‘reds’ have been his great pursuers in most of the seasons that he has been in charge of the Mancunian team. This is how he recognized it on North American CBS after his 0-5 victory against Sporting de Portugal with a particular joking compliment. “The team that could leave us out in Europe? Liverpool. They are six points behind in the Premier and they are our biggest rivals in previous seasons. They are always there. They are like a pain in the ass all the time. They are fantastic in Europe. Look at PSG, who played very well against Real Madrid, Inter, United, Liverpool itself,” he explained.
For the coach, the difficulty of the Champions League is that it is not always won by the favorite or the best team. In this way he tried to ‘defend’ his performance in the previous campaign in which they finished runners-up after losing in the final against Chelsea. “In the last Champions League we played 14 or 15 games, we won twelve, we drew one and we lost the final. To perform better than in the last Champions League is impossible. People say “this year we have to win the Champions League”. We already tried it last season and two years ago. Every time we play it we go for it,” he says.
For him, the merit of his squad is that of not losing ambition when several players are already going for their fourth Premier League and even dominated all of England’s competitions in 18-19 (winning the League, the League Cup and the FA Cup ). “The important thing is that after six seasons together, especially the last five, right now the players want to win everything. They keep fighting for the partner. Look at Raheem Sterling or Bernardo Silva “, he highlighted.
Klopp, his worst rival
If he defined Liverpool as a ‘pimple in the ass’ it is because no manager has given him as many problems as the Reds boss, Jürgen Klopp. The Catalan and the German have faced each other 22 times in the German Clásico between Dortmund and Bayern and also in the exciting sagas between City and Liverpool.
22 times in which Klopp has won the most wins from Pep Guardiola than any other coach: nine. In fact, in the absence of the league match on April 9 between the two, the record is tied with nine games won for each. With more than one or two matchups, few managers can boast a better record. In that club are Di Matteo (3 games: 2 draws, one loss), Koeman (ditto), Solskjaer (9 games: 4 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses), Luis Enrique or Conte (both two wins and two losses).
In those twenty games, his second longest confrontation after the 25 games against Jose Mourinho between England and Real Madrid-Barça, Jürgen snatched several German Cup finals from Pep and even a Champions League quarter-final tie (3 -0 at Anfield, 1-2 at the Etihad) in addition to a Premier. In the regular championship Guardiola has been the one who has taken the metal home the most times. With almost antagonistic playstyles and very different personalities, they are kryptonite for each other.
Premier League
*Data updated as of February 17, 2022