Liverpool perfect opponents for 1,000th game, says Guardiola

MANCHESTER - Pep Guardiola takes charge of his 1,000th game as a manager when his Manchester City team face Liverpool on Sunday and he says he could not wish for a better fixture to mark the milestone.

"Liverpool have been the biggest rival in this country and it could not be better, to be honest," Guardiola told reporters on Friday. "I think we pushed Liverpool to be better and Liverpool pushed us to be better. That's for sure.

"If I had to choose one rival for this personal milestone, that would be the best."

Guardiola's City were involved in two titanic title battles with Juergen Klopp's Liverpool in 2018-19 and 2021-22 -- both times City prevailing by a single point.

"Liverpool, especially with Juergen, have been the biggest rival," he said. "I always had the feeling of how much we respected each other."

Former Spain midfielder Guardiola is regarded as one of the best coaches of all time, winning a combined 12 domestic league titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City as well as three Champions Leagues and numerous other cups.

Guardiola spoke of his pride at being inducted into the League Managers Association (LMA) Hall of Fame 1,000 Club alongside 38 other managers who have worked in England including Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

"The journey, the experiences, have been unbelievable," Guardiola, whose first game as a coach was for Barcelona B in the Spanish fourth-tier in 2007, said.

"The numbers are insane. It's difficult to reach it, and if I started again I would not reach it. It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, passion, love, and in that nobody beat me. I love that game, and I love to scrutinise the secrets of what we can do to opponents.

"Hopefully Sunday we can continue."

Guardiola has won 715 out of his 999 games and was asked his thoughts on being labelled the best manager ever.

"They are completely right!" the 54-year-old joked. "The influence of every manager has been through history. Of course, I can say I've been part of that because the numbers explain, I've had success and it's been nice to watch my teams.

"But I never started thinking 'I want to be the best'."

While his win rate is more than 70%, Liverpool have been a tough nut for Guardiola to crack since he arrived at City in 2016, first under Klopp and now Arne Slot.

He has only won seven of his 24 meetings against Liverpool, losing 10, including home and away last season as Slot's side dethroned City as champions.

While many of those clashes have been pivotal in title chases, Sunday's game could determine which of the two clubs are more likely to try to chase down Arsenal who could have a nine-point lead over City by the time of kickoff at The Etihad.

"If (Arsenal) continue this way, not conceding goals or even clear chances it will be almost impossible (to catch them)," Guardiola, who has won six Premier Leagues with City, said.

"But you always expect you can be better and they can drop points. The only thing we can do is win our games to be close and they have to come here. But of course it's exceptional what they are doing for two or three seasons and every time it's closer, closer. But we are in early November.

"You don't win the title in November, but you can lose it."

Despite the importance of Sunday's game, Guardiola said midfielder Rodri, who has just returned from injury, is unlikely to be risked. REUTERS