A riveting rivalry between two great football coaches

The engaging competition between City’s Guardiola and Liverpool’s Klopp has elevated their teams' standing

Premier League - Manchester City v Newcastle United - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 8, 2022 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates after Raheem Sterling scores their first goal. Credit: Reuters Photo

Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after Liverpool's Senegalese striker Sadio Mane scored his team first goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 22, 2022. Credit: AFP Photo

What make sports such a spectacle are its engaging rivalries. The stars do add the lustre but rivalries - whether between individuals or teams - are the heart and soul of sports. The rivals elevate each other's performances, giving no scope for complacency. The English Premier League, over the decades, has seen several such rivalries and it’s those engrossing battles that make it one of the most popular leagues, across sports, in the world.

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) vs Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) chapter captured the imagination of football fans for their intense rivalry from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s. Jose Mourinho of Chelsea then took over from Ferguson and indulged in some ugly feuds with Wenger, going to the extent of even exchanging blows at the touchline with the Frenchman. Mourinho, who moved to Manchester United after falling out with Chelsea, resumed his acrimonious fight with Pep Guardiola when the Spanish tactician joined Manchester City. These are just some examples though with the Premier League being a grand theatre for several other feuds.

The one that is commanding global attention and even drawing neutrals, apart from their die-hard fans, to watch them is the feud between Guardiola of Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool. The two have bossed the Premier League, opened daylight gap between them and others, and have been at the forefront of their respective team’s successes ever since they took charge.

“The magnitude of our achievement is because of the magnitude of this rival," said an emotional but elated Guardiola after powering City to an incredible fourth Premier League title in five years last Sunday. “Never ever have I had a rival like Liverpool in my career as a football player or manager,” added the Spaniard, now Premier League’s most successful foreign manager in terms of league titles won.

“I could say City are the toughest opponent I've ever had but it wasn't much easier when I faced Pep's Bayern Munich. We push each other to insane levels,” Klopp is reported to have remarked about Guardiola.

Unlike the Ferguson vs Wenger or Mourinho vs Wenger grudge battles, there’s little to cringe about the one-upmanship between Guardiola and Klopp despite the intense war their respective sides have been waging over the last five years. Although City have triumphed four out of the last five times in EPL, Liverpool were the ones to have beaten them on that sole occasion in 2019/20. Two times Liverpool lost to City on the final day by a point after having accrued 97 points (2018/19) and 92 points (2021/22) respectively. The dominance City and Liverpool have exhibited has been phenomenal.

Apart from sharing a mutual respect for each other - the nice aspect about their constant drive to be the best team - the unique paths and styles they follow have added to the whole drama. Their brands of football are different. Both have followed the same ideology they have created; Guardiola with his short quick-passing style (an evolution of tiki-taka), and Klopp with his high-octane 'Gegenpressing’ method that he dubs as ‘heavy metal’. Guardiola hasn’t given any such musical connotations for his way of football but it can be termed jazz - smooth and relaxing to even the casual watcher.

When Guardiola first arrived at City in 2016, many pundits in England felt the Spaniard was destined for failure despite him doing a treble — La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey triumphs — in his first season with Barcelona in 2008-09 and taking the club to unprecedented success during a four-season reign. He then went on to coach Bayern Munich and won three Bundesliga crowns and two German Cups. Many felt Guardiola’s short-passing style — some moves even start from the goalkeeper — is unsuitable for the thunder and bluster of English football where even lower ranked teams play with plenty of energy, verve and confidence. They opined the Guardiola style can work only in Spain and will be bullied in England.

Guardiola, who chose City after being chased by a host of teams because of the ‘project he liked’ and the freedom he would be given to execute it, didn’t speak much then. He preferred to make results talk and that’s what has been making a loud noise. He got rid of players who didn’t buy into his plans, built a team around his ideas and the players are just happy performing to his notes, many of them growing into better individuals. A lot of opponents have tried to disrupt that harmonious play, and while some have succeeded in a game here or there, the consistency of City’s possession based football has been riveting.

Guardiola also isn’t given to set norms. This season he played without an outright centre-forward for a vast majority of the games, thrusting more responsibility on his ball-playing midfielders who befuddled the opposition defences with their constant interchanges. Nobody would dare play without a striker for a full season but Guardiola did and his men scored a whopping 99 goals — most by a team this season.

The only black spot in the resume that Guardiola has been trying to erase is the lack of a Champions League title with either Bayern or City. He came close last year but messed up the tactics against a Thomas Tuchel-inspired Chelsea in the final. Guardiola will chase that again next year and if he can achieve it, his greatness will only be enhanced.

Klopp was brought to Liverpool by co-owner John W Henry in October 2015 based on a mathematical model devised by Cambridge physicist Ian Graham — a method very similar to Moneyball (the book was then made into a must-see movie) — to help get the struggling Reds back to their glory days. Klopp had won two Bundesliga and German Cup titles with Borussia Dortmund and was making waves with his brand of football. Liverpool saw a future in his daring style and the German has taken the Reds back to the days when they dominated English football.

Klopp’s high-pressing and winning the ball at all costs right after conceding, takes a lot out of the players. There’s plenty of running and chasing with very little time to catch a breath. And Klopp demands this game after game, season after season. It’s physically exhausting and mentally taxing but his players, programmed brilliantly by the German, enjoy it. They, in fact, thrive on it and perform like machines. Manager after manager has struggled to contain the force and energy with which Liverpool play. The forward trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino tearing down opposition with the speed of a Ferrari is a sight to behold.

Klopp in fact was chasing something no manager in England had ever done — a quadruple. Liverpool, playing the Champions League final against Real Madrid on May 28, had already won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. For a moment last Sunday when City trailed 0-2, it looked like Liverpool would be on course for it but Guardiola’s men staged an incredible fightback to deny them a shot at history.

Unlike Guardiola though, Klopp has won the Champions League for Liverpool in 2018-19, a year after losing the final to Real Madrid. By the time you read this write-up, Klopp could have exacted revenge. If he couldn't he still will be adored by Liverpool.

Guardiola and Klopp, still young, will resume their feud in a couple of months and, like always, will be engrossing to watch.