Jurgen Klopp makes bold Pep Guardiola claim before Liverpool showdown with Man City
Klopp and Guardiola could be meeting for the final time when they face off at Anfield this weekend
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp has hailed Pep Guardiola as the outstanding manager of his lifetime and said he has “no idea” why he has a winning record against his Manchester City counterpart.
They will meet for potentially the last time on Sunday when Klopp, who has 12 victories and 11 defeats against the Catalan in a duel that dates back to their day at Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively, takes charge of Liverpool against City.
But Klopp insists it is not a rivalry and said he is not frustrated that he would have won far more but for Guardiola, who has secured five Premier League titles to his one from their time together in England.
The Liverpool manager said: “I don’t feel it is a rivalry, I understand you call it that. We are both pretty competitive and we both want to win games and we both are blessed with having really good players in our teams but it is not a rivalry.”
Klopp has been consistent in his argument that Guardiola is the finest coach in the world but the 56-year-old went further in his praise.
“How could I judge managers from the past?” he said. “But in my lifetime he is the outstanding manager.”
Klopp has been impressed by Guardiola’s enduring hunger and impact on the game in general.
He added: “The way he influenced football: easy as that. Then winning the amount of trophies he won in his career and yet when you see him on the touchline he behaves like he has never won anything before. The desire is absolutely outstanding, I know that I do the job myself so I see excellence when I face it and Pep is definitely that. So many different things over the years, [his football was] always possession-based but if necessary he plays long balls.
“I cannot say where he is better than me but just see how his teams are playing. There might be areas where I am better than Pep. I don’t know.”
Klopp has twice finished as a runner-up in the Premier League behind Guardiola’s City but added: “I was never frustrated. I knew around about 3000 footballers were better than me and still loved the game and all the others were better than me. No, it never frustrated me. In this moment I have a positive record against Pep, I have no idea how that happened. I know I am good at what I do, I know I am not bad. But you ask me who is the best and he is the best.”
Liverpool are waiting to see if Ibrahima Konate will be fit to play on Sunday after he came off at half-time in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Sparta Prague.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments