Man City boss Pep Guardiola has candidly offered the highest praises for Liverpool, conceding that the Reds have been the toughest opponent he has ever faced over the past two seasons, with the Merseyside giants snatching the crown away from Cup holders City this past campaign as they finished 18 points clear.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Cityzens set ablaze the league with an incredible winning streak to fend off Jurgen Klopp\u2019s men successfully to defend their Premier League title, but was off the mark behind a resurgent Liverpool who were literally unbeatable this season. Now Guardiola has to put on his thinking cap and figure out how to outsmart them this coming season while Liverpool will look for ways to repeat their feat to add to their league title that was thirty years in the waiting, besides the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup that they\u2019ve won over the past year or so.<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s candid and detailed answer as to why the Reds are the toughest opponent that he has ever faced is in itself of the man\u2019s astuteness, integrity and strength of character, and the praise he lavishes on Man City\u2019s toughest domestic rivals will no doubt be cherished and respected by Klopp and his deserving squad most certainly deserve the praise and the accolades lavished on them<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, by a big margin, the toughest rival I have faced in my career was the Liverpool team of last year and this season,\u201d Guardiola told\u00a0DAZN Spain, as quoted by\u00a0ESPN.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt dominates all the records. If you allow them to dominate you, they will cage you in the area and you don\u2019t come out. When you dominate them, they run finding spaces like no one else does.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are very fast at going back. They are very strong in terms of strategy. Their players are mentally very strong. It\u2019s the rival that I\u2019ve had to think more about how to beat them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask me which team I\u2019ve had more difficulty to decipher and deal with, that\u2019s Liverpool. The first few years when I arrive to England, Liverpool was a little smaller than it is now and\u00a0Real Madrid\u00a0was much stronger. Now, this Liverpool is the toughest that I\u2019ve encountered in my career as coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s a new jigsaw puzzle Guardiola need to figure how fast and the best way that only he can as the coach-cum-manager extraordinaire that even Jurgen Klopp himself has recently openly lauded as the best manager ever.<\/p>\n
Only time will tell if Guardiola finds the answers this summer to try to replicate their earlier successes. He has no doubts that the task would not be an easy one as an insistent Chelsea are also on the upsurge breathing right down their neck.<\/p>\n
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