Sir Alex Ferguson joked that it felt 'sore' to hand over the Manager of the Year award named after him to Pep Guardiola.
The Man City boss was crowned the LMA Manager of the Year for the third time earlier this week, in the wake of winning his third successive top-flight title.
Guardiola has dominated the Premier League in recent years and could emulate the United legend even further by winning an historic Treble in the coming weeks.
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City could take another step closer when they face Manchester United in the FA Cup final this weekend before facing Inter Milan in the Champions League final a week later. If they manage this, he would match a feat only Ferguson has achieved with an English club.
To make matters worse for United fans, the LMA award Guardiola picked up this week was even named after Ferguson in commemoration of his achievements at Old Trafford.
Announcing Guardiola as the winner, he said: "Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. It's sore isn't it, it's really sore. But well deserved.
"He's created a team that's improved every year. Winning three championships in a row tells you the story. I think their performances in the latter part when it really means something, they produced top class performances."
Speaking after he picked up the award, Guardiola praised his fellow nominees and appeared to admit that he thought someone else could have won it.
“First of all, I want to share it with my fellow nominees. They have all done an incredible job this season. This trophy is not normally awarded for how good a manager you are, but for what you win.
"I am at an incredible football club and without all of the support that I have had throughout my time here, this would not have been possible. Of course, I also want to thank all of the players for the incredible job that they have done to help us this season.”
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