Pep Guardiola has admitted that Jurgen Klopp would “destroy” him at times during their meetings as managers of Man City and Liverpool.
The level of consistency Liverpool and Man City showed across several seasons has never been seen before and may never happen again.
The Reds managed 97-point and 92-point seasons without winning the league, in 2019 and 2022 respectively, pushing Man City to record the highest-points totals of all time.
On a UEFA training course, Guardiola reflected on the rivalry, saying: “Klopp’s Liverpool has been the toughest I’ve ever faced in my life.
“I haven’t had an opponent with whom I’ve spent so many nights and afternoons with my people, with Mikel Arteta in the early years when we were together, with Dome (Domenec Torrent), with many of those who were there, figuring out how to stop them.
“There were days when I thought, ‘I’ve got him’ and the next day he’d destroy me again.”
Given Guardiola had to battle against Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid during his time as Barcelona manager, it is high praise.
Klopp had already caused the Spaniard problems before the pair came to England, as Guardiola’s Bayern Munich came up against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
In total, the duo faced off 30 times and Klopp came out on top, winning 12 matches to his opponent’s 11.
The German is the only long-term opponent against whom Guardiola has lost more games than he has won.
“He was the toughest by far because of his way of playing, his transitions, because he was very direct, because he attacked with a lot of players,” the Man City manager added.
“The inside midfielders are usually support players; Klopp’s midfielders were about attacking space, so he’d force the full-backs to close down a lot then he’d open you up on the outside with his full-backs.
“They continually sprinted inside; Firmino would drop back and therefore bring your centre-back out; Salah and Mane’s runs in behind him were unstoppable, but if you didn’t bring him out, your centre-back, they’d have one more.
“It was very, very difficult to counteract. I give a lot of credit to what we’ve done these years, really a lot, to the league titles we’ve won, due to the incredible quality of the opponent we’ve had to face.
“Now Arsenal have taken that step. Liverpool are still there of course, but those three or four league titles we won under Jurgen Klopp are the greatest success we’ve achieved due to the impressive level.
“Add to that Anfield, trying to win at that amazing ground, there hasn’t been a tougher opponent I’ve ever faced.”
Arne Slot‘s first two games as Liverpool head coach against Man City have both ended in 2-0 successes.
With potentially tight title races to come, the head-to-head record could once again become as vital as in the Klopp era.
