Pep Guardiola cried after hearing what Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had to say about him

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has thanked Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in an emotional parting message.

The two sides have battled it out at the highest level for over five years as the pair reignite their rivalry, which flared up in the Bundesliga, in the Premier League. City pipped the Reds to the top of England’s top flight by the slimmest of margins before Klopp ended their reign in 2020.

After his bombshell announcement in January, Sunday marked the German’s final game in charge at Anfield. Liverpool capped an emotional week and afternoon with a comfortable 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, while at East Lancashire Road, City claimed their fourth successive Premier League crown – clinching the title after a win 3-1 to West Ham United.

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Guardiola was asked about Klopp promoting an emotional response from the Spaniard. “I’m going to miss him a lot,” he began. “Jurgen played a very important role in my life, he brought me to another level as a manager, I think we respect each other incredibly.

“I just want to thank you very much for the kind words, but behind me, there are a lot of things that this club has given me and is giving me. Otherwise, I can’t do it alone, I’m humble enough to fully understand that. He helped me many times with his team, a great competitor in my life.

“There’s a lot of times I haven’t found the way we’ve played to punish him that I can find with other teams. With him, it was so hard.

“I wish him all the best and I hope his last game was special for him, he deserves it. He made Liverpool part with him, recognize his stamp, incredible, incredible, the pride of being a Liverpool fan. People say ‘ah, the more titles you win the better’, of course it’s important, but that’s not what it’s about.

“They are personalities, when they get to places they stay forever. Jurgen and Liverpool, sorry, Shankly, Paisley, Jurgen will be there.”

Despite Liverpool disappearing from the Premier League title race, Klopp’s farewell tour ended with silverware after beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.

Reflecting on his rivalry with City, Klopp spoke highly of his opposite number despite the dark clouds hanging over East Manchester amid 115 Premier League allegations of financial wrongdoing.

The Liverpool boss said: “Everyone knows about the 115 charges but I have no idea what that means, I just know the number. Whatever happened at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world – and he really is. important.

“If you put any other manager in that club, they don’t win the league four times in a row. That’s down to him and his boys. Does that mean they can do whatever they want? Not. But I don’t know what they did – if they did anything – and I’m not here to say they did.

We will see. Of course, I’d like to know (if City are guilty) one day. Everyone wants to know. But I’ll be somewhere else. Pep’s quality makes the difference, so I don’t worry about those things. We will see. It’s not my problem and I’m fine with what we have and what we’ve achieved.”