Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has issued a firm warning to Pep Guardiola, only a day after the Bayern Munich boss was revealed as the next Manchester City manager.
As revealed by a statement on the City official website, the Spanish coach—who achieved such magnificent success during his time with Barcelona—will be replacing Manuel Pellegrini at the season’s end, having earlier revealed that he will be leaving his role at the Allianz Arena at the termination of the 2015-16 campaign.
One of Guardiola’s chief foes in England will be Klopp, and the two men crossed swords on several occasions in the Bundesliga, when the latter’s Borussia Dortmund were largely the main threat to the Bayern team that Pep took over in 2013.
Speaking about the appointment, as per the Telegraph, Klopp warned his rival that he may well find life tougher in the Premier League: “Manchester City is a club with not too bad possibilities on the financial side, shall we say, and Pep Guardiola is a really smart person. He won’t have chosen Man City because of his friendship with a few people there.
“They won’t have the worst team in the world next year but I love football because that doesn’t mean everything. As we have shown once or twice, you can beat these teams.
“I don’t think that it will be the same situation as he had in Spain, with Barcelona on the top level, or in Germany with Bayern on the top level, but of course Man City has good possibilities. We will try to beat them.
“He will enjoy the league because it is a great league and a real competition and he is a real competitor. That is what he wants.”
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During his time as BVB manager, Klopp enjoyed great success, winning the Bundesliga title twice, the German Cup once, the German Super Cup twice and helping the Rhine giants to the Champions League final in 2013.
However, since his appointment at Bayern in 2013—admittedly as manager of a stronger team—Guardiola has already at least matched his rival’s achievement, winning two Bundesliga titles, one German Cup, the Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup. The Bavarians also look primed to win the Spanish coach’s third German title in a row, as they currently enjoy an eight-point lead at the top of the table.