Pep Guardiola: Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were a nightmare to play against

By Press Association Sport Staff

Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admits facing Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool used to be a “nightmare”.

Guardiola left his post after Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season, a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa, ending one of the most successful managerial reigns in English football history, during which he won 20 trophies.

The Spaniard’s rivalry with Klopp was in particular an enthralling one, having faced each other a total of 30 times across all competitions.

Guardiola won 11 of those meetings while his German counterpart came out on top 12 times, with seven draws.

The competition began when Guardiola was in charge of Bayern Munich and Klopp was at Borussia Dortmund between 2013 and 2015, with the duel then renewed in England when they moved to City and Liverpool respectively.

They went toe-to-toe with each other for several years at the summit of the Premier League, beginning in the 2018-19 season when Liverpool earned 97 points but lost out on the title to City by a single point.

Liverpool topped the standings in the 2019-20 season but Guardiola then ran supreme and won the next four league trophies on offer, including the 2022-23 season where City clocked 93 points, once again beating Klopp’s side by one point.

Yet even though City beat Liverpool to the majority of silverware, Guardiola confessed the opposition were tough to crack.

In an interview with musician Noel Gallagher on Manchester City’s website, 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.”

However, Guardiola added that he had nothing but respect for his German counterpart and has plans to meet up with him now the pair have moved on from management.

The Spaniard said: “It (the relationship) was really good. It has always has been really good, even back in Germany. We faced each other a lot of times when he was at Dortmund.

“We have not been for dinner once but now it is going to happen.

“The relationship is one of the things I am proud of the most, I would say.

“They were really, really good first of all. But in the moment when they faced us they know that is the game that is the best of them and the best at Anfield.

“Anfield has a history that no stadium has. Few teams can win in Anfield. It’s a really tough place for me for the fact of the way they play, not just for the stadium.

“They were a special team. You sleep one second and they will punish you. The margins like that, it could have happened to us.”