Pep Guardiola looked back on ten years at Manchester City and focused on constant duels with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, describing those matches as his hardest tests. Guardiola ended his spell at the Etihad Stadium on 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, yet the discussion quickly turned to how Liverpool pushed City during that era.

The two managers built their rivalry across 30 matches in all competitions, more than Guardiola has had against any other coach. Guardiola won 11 of those games, drew seven and lost 12. Their first meeting came in July 2013, when Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund beat Guardiola’s Bayern Munich 3-0 in the German Super Cup.

Domestic and European titles often rested on those contests between Manchester City and Liverpool. In the 2018-19 Premier League season Liverpool collected 97 points but finished one point behind City, then lifted the Champions League. Liverpool won the following league campaign, ending a wait for a top-flight crown dating back to 1990.

Guardiola’s team then took control of the Premier League, claiming four straight championships. Manchester City edged Liverpool again in 2021-22, before Klopp left Anfield two years ago. Reflecting on that chase for trophies, Guardiola explained the level Liverpool reached under Klopp and how demanding those matches felt.

In an interview published on Manchester City’s website, Guardiola said: “For the quality of the opponent we faced, we faced a lot, but Liverpool was a nightmare. Every time, it was a nightmare.” The rivalry often defined the title race, with both squads posting high points totals and intense head-to-head meetings.

Across all competitions, Guardiola took charge of 593 Manchester City matches. The team won 416 of those games, giving a 70.3 per cent win rate, and scored 1,423 goals. Guardiola became the first manager to secure four consecutive English top-flight titles and guided City to a 100-point Premier League season in 2017-18.

The 55-year-old also holds the best points-per-game figure of any Premier League manager with at least five matches, at 2.28, and the best win percentage, at 71 per cent. During those years, Klopp’s Liverpool were often the closest challengers, underlining why Guardiola highlighted them when reviewing his time in England.

Despite frequent title battles, Guardiola stressed admiration for Klopp and talked about how their relationship grew over many meetings in Germany and England. Guardiola 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, he added. 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.”

Guardiola’s comments underline how strongly Liverpool influenced Manchester City’s decade of success, even while City collected more trophies. The rivalry with Klopp shaped title races in both Germany and England, and Guardiola now plans to share a dinner with Klopp after both stepped away from club management, closing a significant chapter in recent football history.