Pep Guardiola says that Liverpool are the greatest rivals he has ever faced in his managerial career. The Manchester City boss was speaking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash between the two clubs, which will go a long way towards deciding the destiny of the title.
That is a big claim from the Blues manager, who managed Barcelona for four seasons in a fierce rivalry with Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in La Liga and also fended off Borussia Dortmund in winning a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles. City have won three of the last four Premier League titles, with Jurgen Klopp’s side taking the other one, and again the two teams are locked in an intense fight for the crown, with City just one point ahead going into Sunday’s showdown.
The two teams also meet six days later at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final and could even clash one last time this season if both make it through to the Champions League final. And the regularity of meetings is the prime aspect on which Guardiola bases his assessment of Liverpool as his greatest rivals.
ALSO READ: Liverpool history myth exposed ahead of City clash
“We play many times, more times,” he said. “Jose is an exciting manager and we had the rivalry in Barcelona.
“In five years here we have played many times, and all the times we were close. I faced in Munich with Jurgen.
“How we set up the teams here we were close many times. Every season except the year we got 100 points and the year they got 99 we were tight.”
And he agreed that the rivalry could go on for some time, like one of the great tennis head-to-heads: "I would say Rafa and Nadal was two decades, to sustain for a long time is more difficult but in this period, I will remember by period here, when I'm watching and playing golf, I’ll remember my biggest rivals as Liverpool. Absolutely we wouldn’t be as good but for them, after 100 points, 98 you need someone to push them.
"We have to make another step, our chairman and chief executive we want to grown and I'm pretty sure we want to grow. The more credit I give, it’s not winning one Premier League title, this is the most important thing. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, every time they are there and that’s what I’m proud of."
Guardiola said that Sunday’s game could boil down to finer points, maybe a reference to the 2-2 draw at Anfield in October, when James Milner survived two big red card shouts in a tense encounter.
He said: “The times we play against them, always are many decisions in the game. Many details in both sides. Both teams are good.
“We try to discover the weak points they have which are few. We try to exploit it, try to be ourselves. We play already many times, not just Premier League, always was interesting games.”
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
Catch up on all the latest Blues headlines in our Man City section
