Pep Guardiola has stated that the “biggest challenge” of his coaching career has been Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, not Real Madrid.
Guardiola’s comments came after his Manchester City side suffered a 5-1 aggregate defeat to the Spanish giants in the Champions League round of 16.
This marks the third consecutive time Guardiola’s City have been eliminated by the 15-time European champions, but in his post-match press conference, the Catalan coach denied that Madrid was his biggest rival.
“No, my biggest challenge has been Jurgen Klopp with Liverpool during these years here,” Guardiola told a Spanish journalist. “You were in Spain, and you didn’t understand the nature of that rivalry.”
He added: “It was a good learning experience for the club because, 12 or 13 years ago, this club was never in Europe. Playing against Real Madrid several times, and with the generation we had, we did it.”
Pep continued: “They’ve won, and we’ve won. The numbers are the same; they’ve eliminated us more times than we’ve eliminated them, but they know how we play.”
Guardiola has faced Real Madrid 30 times throughout his career, starting during his four years with Barcelona in La Liga, and then in European competitions with Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
His record against Madrid during that period stands at 14 wins, 6 draws, and 10 losses. However, in recent years, Madrid has eliminated City from the Champions League in 2022, 2024, 2025, and now again in 2026.
