Not Real Madrid: Guardiola names another club as his biggest challenge as Man City boss
Manchester City just got knocked out of Europe by Real Madrid on Tuesday night, and everyone expected Pep Guardiola to talk about Madrid’s legendary Champions League aura or how tough it is to play at the Bernabéu.
Instead, Pep took the mic and completely flipped the script, dropping a massive truth bomb that gave the ultimate shoutout to his biggest rival: Jurgen Klopp.
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Real Madrid had just ended City’s European run, and the Spanish journalists were fishing for quotes about how unstoppable Los Blancos are in this competition.
But when they asked about the toll of facing Madrid, Pep wasn’t having it.
Pep Guardiola names Liverpool as his biggest challenge
“Real Madrid have not been my biggest challenge,” Pep said straight up, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
“My biggest challenge has been Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.”
Pep clearly wanted to make sure the journalists in the room understood exactly what he meant.
He basically told the Spanish press that they missed out on understanding the true grind of English football.
Guardiola continued: “Maybe you’re in Spain and you didn’t notice… You have no idea how it was like to face Liverpool in those games, a great learning experience.”
If you watched the Premier League during the peak Pep vs. Klopp years, you know exactly what he means.
We are talking about seasons where racking up 97 points somehow wasn’t enough to win the league.
Liverpool and City had some memorable battles
Liverpool pushed City to a point where dropping even two points in a random February match felt like the end of the world.
While Real Madrid is the ultimate cup team, Klopp’s Liverpool was an everyday nightmare, particularly for Guardiola.
He did get the better of them on most occasions, as his Premier League titles win show.
But it was still Klopp and Liverpool who gave them the most sleepless nights.
Madrid might have won the tie, but Klopp’s Liverpool is the team that forced Guardiola to completely level up as a manager.
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