Former Barcelona manager took the football world by surprise when he proved himself with his managerial expertise at Camp Nou and gifted the football world with one of the most famous rivalries, Pep Guardiola vs Jose Mourinho.Â
The Start of New Rivalry
However, Pep Guardiola soon moved out of the Spanish top tier league and joined the German champions, Bayern Munich. By then, the La Masia product had got the experience of managing the elite team. To his greatness of finding adversaries, Pep Guardiola found one more in Germany. This time, the manager was none other than Jurgen Klopp.
When Pep found Jurgen Klopp, Klopp was a talented manager but was less experienced compared to Pep. However, Klopp was someone who would match Pep’s brilliance on the field. Current day Liverpool manager is one of those managers who always thinks outside the box.
Though former Barcelona manager had upper hand over Borussia Dortmund manager in all the aspects, including the financial aspects, Jurgen Klopp won few battles and direct confrontations in Bundesliga. The former German player was also successful in taking away the Supercups from Pep Guardiola.
The Rivalry Moves To England
The Reds of England were in search of a manager who can take up the new project and lead them to the end of Premier League title drought. And, Fenway Sports Group found their perfect man in former German player, Jurgen Klopp. And the manager arrived at Anfield in 2015, with a set of plans to execute.
On the other hand, Pep Guardiola understood that English Premier League is going to be the next big thing in football and wanted to try his luck in it. He arrived a year later to England, in 2016. Though he struggled in his first year in Premier League, the manager was able to make his players understand the way of football he wanted to play.
The concepts yielded the returns when his side won the Premier League title in 2018 against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. However, during this time, Pep Guardiola confessed that Jurgen Klopp is the most complicated rival he has ever faced in the Premier League.
A Healthy Rivalry
Is it the prelude of better things to come? Or a premature ending to the competitive rivalry?
Unlike the other football player or manager rivalries, the rivalry between former Spanish and German managers has been a pleasant one.
Both have praised and congratulated each other whenever they can. Both are on their way to becoming the greatest managers which are because of the respect for their profession and devotion to the beautiful game.
Apart from the above-mentioned facts, it is the mesmerizing sportsmanship that has made the rivalry more interesting.
No matter what they achieve on the pitch, the banter between will remain. Though we are assured that both of them will be fighting and kicking each other’s ass throughout the season, but it will always be in the good spirits of the game.
Both of them are left with something to achieve with their respective English Premier League clubs. On one side, Pep Guardiola has failed to win the Champions League with Cityzens despite winning the Premier League twice, whereas, on the other hand, Klopp has failed to win the Premier League with his Champions League-winning Reds.
The rivalry is expected to become more intense with years to come in the Premier League. However, reports suggest that Pep Guardiola is looking away as Manchester City are expected to serve the Champions League ban for two seasons as the club failed to comply with the Financial Fair Play(FFP) regulations.
Has the best of the rivalry come or is it yet to surface in the football world? Can they replace the rivalry of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson in Premier League? Please comment down your favourite Pep Guardiola- Jurgen Klopp rivalry in the comment section.
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