Guardiola was famous for his confrontation with Jose Mourinho when he and the Portuguese were managers of two of Spain’s biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
But Guardiola feels that the level of competition Man City have faced from Liverpool in recent years has been higher than anything he had to deal with at Barcelona, when Real Madrid was vying for the La Liga and Champions League titles.
Guardiola said, on Friday, about Liverpool: “In the past five years they have been the biggest competitor. Jurgen as manager has been the biggest opponent I’ve faced in my career. I think what both teams offer is good for football. I will remember my time here, when I retire to watch and play golf, I will remember that my biggest rival was Liverpool for sure.”
City leads by one point over Liverpool in the Premier League standings for the current season, before the decisive match at the Etihad Stadium.
“The three points are going to be massive and important, but there will still be seven games, 21 points, and a lot of things including the Champions League and the FA Cup (to be played). But that is of course important,” Guardiola said.
Sunday’s match is the second for City out of four matches in an intense two-week period that also includes the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid and another meeting with Liverpool, in the FA Cup semi-final.
Guardiola rejected suggestions that he would be happy with the draw with Liverpool, saying sarcastically: “We trained today to sit for 90 minutes, to get zero.”
Unlike Guardiola’s fierce rivalry with Mourinho, there is a great deal of respect between him and Klopp.
“Jurgen makes world football a better place to live with his message,” Guardiola said.
In turn, Club Guardiola described him as the best coach in the field.
Guardiola said in response to this: “Thank you very much, but I am not. I would have liked to tell him that I am the best, but I am not.”
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