Before the top match against Liverpool, Pep Guardiola cast doubt on whether he even wants to become champion. Opponent Jürgen Klopp received special praise.
Pep Guardiola will probably prefer to read the term top game these days rather than a (pre-)decision in the championship. At the press conference before the showdown against Liverpool on Sunday evening, the Catalan revealed what actually drives him in the professional circus.
“The team, being together, developing together,” Guardiola said, which is why he does it all in the first place. “Not for trophies.” Well, until the duel between first and second comes down to three points or even a title, cohesion and further development can be enjoyed for another 90 minutes. Including emotional coaching on the sidelines.
By the way, it is anything but a pleasure for Guardiola – although that is exactly what he likes to do himself – to be praised to the skies. Opponent Jürgen Klopp, who expects the showdown to be a showdown, once again called Manchester City’s successful coach “the best coach in the world”, which the latter rejected just as vehemently as he did the rumour that he would become Brazilian national coach from 2023.
“I’m not the best, I’m not,” the 51-year-old insisted prayerfully, until launching into some praise of his own. Klopp was “the biggest rival I’ve ever had in my career”, Guardiola said quite unsarcastically ahead of an “incredible test”.
Guardiola looks for weaknesses and thinks golf
By the way, the Catalan does not expect the preliminary decision in the championship, whatever it may mean to him. He does, however, expect a few weak points in his biggest rival’s team, which he is trying to find out about with his coaching team.
All in all, it was a relaxed Pep Guardiola who – apart from the praise and the rumour – was really only bothered about one thing before the game of the games in the Premier League: how the league could schedule such a match when Tiger Woods is celebrating his Masters comeback.
