Pep Guardiola is convinced he will face Jurgen Klopp again in the future – and he doesn’t believe the German’s forthcoming departure will spell the end of Liverpool as a title challenger.
Guardiola and Klopp will meet for the 30th time in their illustrious coaching careers on Sunday when Manchester City visit Liverpool in a crunch top-of-the-table meeting.
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The Merseysiders sit at the Premier League summit – although they could be overtaken by Arsenal if the Gunners beat Brentford tomorrow – a point clear of defending champions City with 11 games to go.
Klopp will leave Anfield in the summer, although with both teams still in the FA Cup, he may go head to head once again with former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola.
The Spaniard said: “I completely respect Klopp’s decision. I have the feeling he will be back sooner or later. He loves football and his passion is there.
“We could play in the FA Cup in the future, nobody knows. He’s young, I’m young.”
The pair have enjoyed some epic battles over the years in the Bundesliga and the Premier League and Guardiola emphasised his respect for his rival.
“It was always a pleasure to play against him and it will be on Sunday too,” he added.
“It will be a good battle and we’ll try to win the game. The way his teams play [drives me on].”
PEP 💬 Always I have the feeling he [Jurgen Klopp] will be back sooner or later. He loves football. His passion is there. He explained perfectly the reason why [he is leaving]. In the Premier League it’s the last time but maybe in the FA Cup, we will see. PIC.TWITTER.COM/2AMTABQIBO
— Manchester City (@ManCity) MARCH 8, 2024
The identity of Klopp’s successor remains unknown – Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso is reportedly the club’s first choice – but Guardiola believes the foundations in place at Liverpool means they will always pose a threat.
He said: “Liverpool have always been Liverpool and there are other contenders too. Arsenal are there and were our biggest rivals last season.
“Tottenham will make a step forward, so will Manchester United. Newcastle might be back next season too.”
As is often the case in his media conferences, Guardiola was giving very little away and was certainly not going to be drawn on remarks made by injured full-back Trent-Alexander Arnold that success means more to Liverpool due to City’s financial strength.
Guardiola said: “I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he comes back to the pitch as soon as possible.”
City striker Erling Haaland did bite at Alexander-Arnold’s claims, as did centre-half Ruben Dias, with both men indicating it was impossible for the England international to understand what success represented as the Merseyside club have yet to replicate City’s treble win from last season.
Put to Guardiola that Haaland and Dias’ words indicated a level of fight within the City camp, Guardiola said: “Do you think they want to fight because Erling and Ruben talk? Without these talks we will not fight?
“We are there and after what happened in the last years we are going to try to do a good game.”
