Without Jürgen Klopp who will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, “I will sleep better!” Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola joked on Friday, paying tribute to the “best rival of (his) career”, a personality whose “ football needs”.
“The day before matches against Liverpool was always almost a nightmare. Of course I will miss him. I was shocked by the news, like everyone,” Guardiola commented. Klopp’s Liverpool FC, in office since October 2015, has been the biggest competitor over time to Guardiola’s Manchester City, who arrived in the north of England at the start of the 2016-2017 season.
“We cannot define our period here without him, without Liverpool. The best rival I have ever had in my life,” said the Spaniard, also recalling the previous years when they faced each other in the Bundesliga, him with Bayern and Klopp with Dortmund. “The Premier League will miss him, his charismatic personality, the way his team plays,” added Guardiola, “wish him the best”. “He won’t admit it but he will come back, I know it!” he added. In any case, “football needs coaches and personalities like him”.
