Pep Guardiola has opened up on what it was like for Manchester City to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a final interview with Noel Gallgher
Pep Guardiola has admitted facing Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp was a nightmare – but he now can’t wait to go for dinner with his former rival. Klopp and Guardiola have faced each other more than they’ve faced any other manager across their careers.
Guardiola’s City battled it out with Klopp’s Liverpool at the summit of the English game for a number of years and the pair also came head to head while in charge of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, respectively, in the Bundesliga between the years of 2013 and 2015.
But it was in the Premier League where the two established a respectful rivalry, with the pair regularly going head to head for the title. And although it was Guardiola’s City who dominated the Premier League with victories in four triumphs over the last five seasons of Klopp’s time at Liverpool, the two enjoyed plenty of classic matches.
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And Guardiola, speaking in an interview with Noel Gallagher in which he reflected on his time at the Etihad, revealed every time his City side faced Liverpool under Klopp, it was a nightmare.
He said: “For the quality of the opponent we faced, we faced a lot but Liverpool was a nightmare. Every time, it was a nightmare.”
Before he added: “It was really good, it always has been really good – even back in Germany. We faced (each other) a lot of times when he was at Dortmund.”
Klopp stepped down as Liverpool manager in the summer of 2024, after almost nine years in charge, to take a break from management.
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The German has since become global head of soccer for the Red Bull group, and Guardiola is looking forward to having dinner with his old rival.
“We have not been for dinner once but now it is going to happen,” he said. “The relationship is one of the things I am proud of the most, I would say.
“They were really, really good but in the moment when they face us they know that is the game that gets the best of them and Anfield.
“Anfield has a history that no stadium has. It’s a really tough place for me for the fact the way they play, not just for the stadium. They were such a special team. You sleep one second and they punish you. The three up front…”
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