Pep Guardiola vs Jurgen Klopp has been an intriguing managerial match up that started in Germany nine years ago and is still standing strong in the Premier League.
In the 24 meetings between Guardiola's and Klopp's teams, there have been six draws, with Klopp having won ten games compared to Guardiola's eight. However, sides managed by Pep have managed to score a couple more goals in games involving the two managers, highlighting just how even the battle truly is.
From Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City and Liverpool, the two managers have switched countries but not rivalries in the last ten years, and there have been some thrilling matches between sides under the two men's tutelage. With the two sides facing each other at Anfield on Sunday, FFT takes a look at five of the best matches between Pep and Klopp-managed sides.
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Bayern Munich, July 2013
Two months after Germany's juggernauts faced each other in the Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund welcomed Bayern Munich to the Signal Iduna Park for the German Supercup, looking to exact revenge on their rivals.
In the first ever meeting between a Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola side - taking charge of Bayern for his inaugural competitive match - it was Klopp who struck the first blow. Two Marco Reus strikes, scored either side of a Daniel van Buyten own goal and Ilkay Gundogan finish, ensured Dortmund turned out rampant 4-2 winners.
Arjen Robben scored twice, but his efforts proved in vain in a thrilling attacking encounter which would come to define Pep Guardiola versus Jurgen Klopp battles over the next decade.
Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City, January 2018
After losing 5-0 earlier in the season and having Sadio Mane sent off, Liverpool galvanised under Klopp and started to show signs of a team that truly looked capable of winning trophies.
While City were comfortably clear at the top of the table as they visited Anfield in January 2018, and still unbeaten, this game acted as a catalyst for the title race over the next five years. Liverpool's 4-3 win - a result which, by and large, flatters City - epitomised the beginning of an emerging Liverpool side.
The teams went in 1-1 at the break, but Liverpool then proceeded to blow away their counterparts early in the second-half, scoring three quick goals without reply through their trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah. Mane smashed one into the top corner with his weaker left foot, while Salah's goal, a 40-yard lob of Ederson, really started to show their quality and the ensemble Klopp had put together.
Late goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan provided City with a lifeline, and a Liverpool scare, but the Reds managed to hang on as they signalled their intentions for the upcoming years. Indeed, that season they got to the Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid, but City walked the title, becoming the first Premier League team to reach the milestone of 100 points.
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool, April 2018
This Champions League quarter-final second leg arguably signalled the beginning of a new English rivalry. The two sides had world football's best incumbents, but perhaps what made the match-up even more interesting is that the two sides were an antithesis of each other's styles. City focussing on short, sharp passing to carve defences open, while Liverpool pressed and attacked with vigour and intent.
Liverpool came into the game with a 3-0 aggregate lead and looked in control of the tie. However, City, requiring a fast start to overturn their 3-0 defeat from the first leg, scored in just the second minute through Gabriel Jesus to bring the game immediately to life.
With Pep opting for an extremely attacking line-up - De Bruyne, David Silva and Bernardo Silva in behind Sterling, Jesus and Sane - he had hoped to catch Liverpool off guard. He did exactly that. City dominated the first half but couldn't find reduce the arrears any more.
Bernardo Silva agonisingly hit the post, before a contentious offside decision from a Leroy Sane goal was ruled out. From there, Liverpool grew in strength, and by the second half were on the up.
Salah scored in the 56th minute, before Roberto Firmino stopped any chance of a comeback with a 77th minute finish to send Liverpool into the semi-finals.
Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool, January 2019
With City trailing Liverpool in the league by seven points, Pep's men came into the game knowing only a win would be good enough. Once again the Spaniard attacked Liverpool, eager to take the game to the Reds and pin them back into their own half.
They had to survive an early scare, though, when John Stones just managed to stop the ball from fully crossing the line with some last-ditch defending due to a mix-up with his goalkeeper Ederson.
A Sergio Aguero near-post strike was cancelled out by Firmino, and a 1-1 draw looked inevitable as the game eventually settled. Sane secured all three points for the champions with a powerful finish across Alisson in the Liverpool goal, though, handing City all three points to close the gap in the league.
Manchester City went onto win the league on the final day of the season, while Liverpool took the Champions League instead.
Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City, October 2021
Perhaps the 2-2 draw in April 2022 had more riding on it, but the quality on display in this October clash was just obscene.
From Phil Foden's tremendous finish from an acute angle to Mo Salah's spellbinding goal of the season award winner to a mazy Bernardo Silva run which took five Liverpool players out of the game, the best in world football were playing at Anfield that afternoon.
All four goals came within 22 minutes of each other in the second half, too, after a cagey first 45 minutes where neither team managed to convert, despite some gilt-edged chances.
James Milner could well have been sent off after catching City players multiple times throughout the match, which on another day could have signalled a red card, but he never got his marching orders. Pep was incensed, but Manchester City game away from the game the happier of the two sides, especially when considering they had to come from behind twice.
