Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp shared a brilliant exchange at the Football Writers’ Association awards dinner as they spoke highly of one another.
Last season, the two managers contested one of the greatest title races in Premier League history with Liverpool and Manchester City going head-to-head until the final day, before the latter won the trophy by a single point.
Liverpool responded to the disappointment of missing out on their maiden Premier League crown by beating Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final in Madrid to win their sixth European Cup.
Speaking at the FWA awards dinner on Sunday night in Manchester, Klopp and Guardiola both gave amusing insights into how they watched the other claim their respective silverware.
“I told Pep what I did last year when [Vincent] Kompany scored this screamer against Leicester,” Klopp recalled.
“The next day we were playing against Barcelona so the day was full with training and preparations for that game, and when I came home my missus told me, ‘come on, we’ll watch the game [City vs Leicester]’.
“And I said, ‘oh I’m not sure’.
“But I watched it on my sofa and I had both hands in my pockets and if somebody could have measured my heart rate or whatever…
“The whole season was completely fine. I thought anyway that they would win, what they did all the time, but in this game… second by second I started hoping.
“And then I saw Leicester getting tired and I was really angry with them in that moment.
“And then Kompany scores from outside the box; the first goal for Vincent Kompany, it was a good moment.”
Next onto the stage was Guardiola, and the Man City boss reacted to Klopp’s earlier comments.
He also had a cheeky suggestion in mind for the German, based on City’s desire to win the Champions League and Liverpool’s hunt for their first ever Premier League success.
“What Jurgen doesn’t know,” Pep began, “what he felt with that Vincent Kompany goal, I felt like that every week when his team would score in the last minute every time.
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“Every time I thought, ‘this time, this time… it’s going to happen’.
“But it never happened.
“I think last season was the most difficult [title] because of the quality [Liverpool] have. It’s difficult; always I learn how to play against Jurgen Klopp’s team.
“I would like to win my [Champions League] trophy back, and I am pretty sure he would like to win that one [Premier League].
“Maybe we can swap?”
Liverpool are currently top of the table on 37 points, with Man City in third having closed the gap to nine after coming from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1.
Watch the video of Klopp and Guardiola, in full, above…
