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As the epic battle nears its conclusion, one element of the story remains consistent. According to Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp has been the greatest rival he has ever faced. The German manager has proven to be the most resilient, having competed against Guardiola in two different countries, in eight different competitions, over the course of 12 years. He has also achieved the most victories, with 12 wins over Guardiola, which is five more than any other manager. This is three times the number of wins held by the third-ranked managers, Antonio Conte, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Mauricio Pochettino.
In simpler terms, Klopp has achieved more victories over Guardiola alone than a combined total of Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, Diego Simeone, Rafa Benitez, Erik ten Hag, Frank Lampard, Marcelo Bielsa, Maurizio Sarri, Roy Hodgson, David Moyes, Unai Emery, Marco Silva, and Marco Rose. Among all managers who have faced Guardiola at least four times, only Klopp has won more matches than he has lost.
The foundation of his success is his mindset. He once stated, “I’ve never aimed to have the top team, I’m more focused on defeating the top team.” Although this quote originated in 2018, he has expressed similar sentiments on multiple occasions. In 2022, he declared, “Pep is undeniably the best coach in the world, but my goal has always been to coach a team capable of defeating the best team in the world.”
Currently, Liverpool is competing in four different competitions, with the goal of winning all four and being considered the top team in the world. While Klopp has previously referred to Manchester City as such, this is the first time that their official status supports this claim. City became the Club World Cup champions in December. At the time, Liverpool held the title of Champions League winners and were just a month away from also winning the Club World Cup. Their amazing form in the Premier League, with 35 wins in 36 games, prompted Klopp to admit that his team may have become the best in the world. He stated in November 2019, “If you defeat the best team in the world, then you become the best team in the world.” Liverpool went on to beat City 3-1 in that match.
for one another, but when it comes to their teams it is all out war.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have consistently demonstrated a mutual respect for each other, yet when it comes to their respective teams, it becomes a fierce battle.
Typically, there has been a consistent repetition. Klopp cheerfully declares Guardiola as the top manager in the sport. He can characterize Liverpool in relation to City. This could potentially explain why he has rejected Bayern Munich’s attempts multiple times: he may need to use a different approach at a club that is expected to dominate its own league.
However, he operates in a different section of the team where City typically have the highest salary expenses, a larger budget for transfers, and – to the extent that it can be objectively evaluated – the most skilled players. Yet, Klopp thrives in an underdog mindset. This is evident in his enthusiasm for Liverpool’s victory in the Carabao Cup final; the inclusion of inexperienced players shifted his team into the role of outsiders. This mentality aligns with his background and identity as a modest defender from the lower tier of German football, not groomed for greatness like the Barcelona captain and disciple of Johan Cruyff, Guardiola. He achieved success in his own unique way. While Guardiola is known for his perfectionism in football, Klopp’s style often involves pressuring opponents to make mistakes.
What Liverpool has accomplished, particularly at Anfield, stands out. Guardiola only managed to win there during lockdown when the stadium was empty. He quickly remarked, “Without fans, it’s a completely different experience.” On the other hand, there is a similar gap in Klopp’s record as well. He has never achieved victory against Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League, and now will never get the chance (although a 2-1 Champions League win in 2018 helped Liverpool advance to the finals and resulted in Guardiola being sent off).
Klopp and Guardiola share their ideas on the sidelines.
Although he has been successful in managing Pep’s team in certain aspects, Klopp compared their teams to tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. However, while Federer and Nadal have achieved similar numbers of grand slam titles, Guardiola has won five Premier League titles compared to Klopp’s one. In Germany, Klopp won two Bundesligas before Guardiola took over at Bayern and he then won two consecutive titles.
During the past decade, the score of 7-1 may potentially change to 8-1 or 7-2 due to the presence of Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. However, regardless of the outcome, it fails to accurately represent the intense and fantastic rivalry between the two teams. Perhaps a more fair assessment would be that both teams have won one Champions League since their initial encounter. Unfortunately, if Klopp were to leave Anfield after finishing second to City in the Premier League yet again, it would be a fitting but sad farewell.
Perhaps, when all is said and done, his issue may be that while he was able to overcome Guardiola, not many other managers were able to do the same. Liverpool finished in second place with 97 and 92 points respectively, which were the two highest scores for teams that did not win the league. Both teams pushed each other to new levels of success. Klopp may have won more games, but Guardiola earned more medals.
Liverpool has remained faithful to Klopp’s statements and his strategies. In 2015, when he became the coach at Anfield, the German expressed his goal to make the team the most difficult to defeat worldwide. It is likely that Guardiola would agree that he accomplished this goal.
The source is independent.co.uk.
