Man City Square
Fansided

Champions League: Klopp v Guardiola

By Jason Bardwell

FILE PHOTO (EDITORS NOTE: GRADIENT ADDED - COMPOSITE OF TWO IMAGES - Image numbers (L) 671871326 and 647859706) In this composite image a comparision has been made between Josep Guardiola manager of Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool. Manchester City and Liverpool meet in a Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Manchester. ***LEFT IMAGE*** LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: Josep Guardiola manager of Manchester City looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 23, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) ***RIGHT IMAGE*** LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 04: Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool looks on as his team warm up prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on March 4, 2017 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
FILE PHOTO (EDITORS NOTE: GRADIENT ADDED - COMPOSITE OF TWO IMAGES - Image numbers (L) 671871326 and 647859706) In this composite image a comparision has been made between Josep Guardiola manager of Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool. Manchester City and Liverpool meet in a Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Manchester. ***LEFT IMAGE*** LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: Josep Guardiola manager of Manchester City looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 23, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) ***RIGHT IMAGE*** LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 04: Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool looks on as his team warm up prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on March 4, 2017 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Manchester City head into the Champions League First Leg tie in good form. Defeating Everton with a scintillating first half display at the weekend, Pep’s side will be full of confidence going to Anfield.

In the home dugout will be a familiar face for Pep, in Jurgen Klopp. Forgetting for a moment that the officiating crew are the same Nationality as the Liverpool head coach, how much chance do City have of feeling defeat?

A couple of seasons ago, Liverpool defeated Manchester United in the Europa League. Wednesday’s meeting though, will be the first time for a Manchester-Merseyside rivalry, in this competition.  Klopp has masterminded his fair share of victories over both Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola over his career.

It was his Borussia Dortmund side which beat City in the 2012/13 group stage in germany, 1-0. Although City did manage a 1-1 draw back at the Etihad it would be the only times Klopp faced City outside of England.

Against Pep though, his history is a little more extensive. Of course there was the almost embarrassing  result at Anfield a few months ago. January 14th saw the OX score after nine minutes before Leroy Sane levelled the tie right before the half time whistle.

The second half saw a mad nine minutes as Firmino, Mane and Salah all scored from the 59th to 68th minutes. As it was starting to look like City were going to be on the end of a hiding, Bernardo Silva pulled one back. Ilkay Gundogan pulled it to within one deep into stoppage time.  Aguero was just an inch away from turning the ball in for a stunning equalizer, although was ruled offside.

Although it was a loss, City did themselves no harm by continuing to play the way they do. Pulling themselves back into the tie, and something which could prove a vital lesson over these next 180 minutes against the Merseyside Reds.

Of course for everyone who points to that as a reason for Liverpool to stand a chance there is someone who will point to the 5-1 victory at the Etihad. Klopp does have a little bit of history over Guardiola though, certainly more than most other managers. The previous season, at Anfield, we also lost. This time it was an early goal and only 1-0.

Statistics show that the German hasn’t beaten Manchester City outside of his own ground. That will certainly give a boost to blues fans, especially if Wednesday nights result is favorable. In Germany, Klopp faced Guardiola while he was at Bayern Munich.

Beating them on penalties at the Allienz Arena in the DFB Cup Semi Final. The DFB Supercup has also seen its fair share of Guardiola upsets by Klopp. The latest, in 2014, when a lacklustre Lewandowski debut summed up Bayern. Dortmund beating them 2-0 on that occasion. In the same competition, the previous year, Bayern fell 4-2 to Klopps Dortmund side.

The only league defeat came in April of 2014. Dortmund went to Munich and beat them 3-0. At that point Pep had already wrapped up the German title, and complacency most likely set in. This result wasn’t as bad as the one that followed, being knocked out by Real Madrid in the Champions League,