Sports top game against Man City
The football world looks to Liverpool – “It will be pure spectacle”
Status: 08.03.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Jürgen Klopp praises Pep Guardiola: “He’s the best”
Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have faced each other 29 times as coaches so far. Klopp won twelve duels. Guardiola eleven. On Sunday both will meet for the last time. In the Premier League top game. League leaders Liverpool against pursuers Manchester City. Klopp ennobled Guardiola before this game.
The duel between the two super coaches Klopp and Guardiola has shaped the Premier League in recent years. Now it’s happening for the last time. And again there is a lot at stake. According to the German coach, champagne is under no circumstances needed.
Before one of the biggest games on his farewell tour, Jürgen Klopp was in a great mood. “No matter how it turns out, nobody should open the champagne bottles,” joked the cult coach of Liverpool FC before the summit with Manchester City. The title fight in England has not yet been decided.
Klopp is still aware of the importance of the encounter. “I don’t know who plays against each other in the other leagues in the world: but it’s probably THE game of the weekend,” said the 56-year-old on Friday. First against second, motivational artist “Kloppo” against tactics guru Guardiola – it doesn’t get much more than that.
“Pep is the best coach in the world,” said Klopp before his last meeting with Guardiola in the Premier League. The duel between star coaches has shaped the leading football league in recent years like no other coaching strengths competition.
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The two exceptional personalities met 15 times in England’s top division alone. The German won four times and the Spaniard five times. Guardiola, who fought exciting sporting duels with Klopp when he was still coaching Bayern and Klopp Borussia Dortmund, recently praised the former BVB coach as the “best rival I ever had”.
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When it comes to personal relationships, Klopp emphasized the mutual appreciation. “When we meet in the future, it will be with full respect,” he said. “We will have a lot to talk about,” added the Stuttgart native and laughed.
Character head: Jürgen Klopp could crown his departure from Liverpool with four titles
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
Dietmar Hamann, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, compares the status of the two with that of the former coaching legends Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) and Arsène Wenger (Arsenal FC). Hamann is expecting a thrilling final game in the league: “The new stand in Liverpool is ready, the Anfield cauldron will burn, it will be pure spectacle,” the 50-year-old wrote in a Sky column. “Anfield is a massive factor for us,” emphasized Klopp.
The league comeback of an offensive star could be at least as important. Mo Salah will be available to Klopp again against City’s super offensive led by star striker Erling Haaland and the recently great Phil Foden on Sunday (4.45 p.m./Sky). If the Reds win, they would be four points ahead of the champions of the last three years at the top of the table. A dream farewell with the second championship under Klopp after 2020 would be getting closer – even if a third club, Arsenal FC from London, is involved in the exciting title race and is only two points behind Liverpool before the 28th matchday.
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Additional trophies are possible for Klopp’s big Merseyside farewell, even the so-called quadruple is included: Klopp already won the League Cup at the end of February – and his team also has a good chance of winning the FA Cup and the Europa League. On Thursday, Liverpool beat Sparta Prague 5-1 in the first leg of the round of 16. Just like the day after, Klopp joked with reporters in his typical style. Asked if he was interested in a Sparta player joining Liverpool, he said: “I’m quitting in the summer. Should I take him on vacation with me?”