Guardiola has recorded 715 wins and only conceded 128 defeats in all competitions throughout his career.

He has managed three clubs, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.

The Spaniard has also managed to win 37 trophies, including 14 with Barcelona, six with Bayern, and 17 with Manchester City.

“If I have to choose one rival to do this, I will share it with many people, but this will be the best,” Guardiola told his club’s official website.

“I have been here longer than ever in this country, the impact it’s had on my life. Barcelona is my club and Bayern was incredible as well but Liverpool have been the biggest rival in this country and especially Jurgen [Klopp], it could not be better. The destiny and universe has decided for this.

“We have to be our best. I know how quickly everything goes here. One week ago, Liverpool, six defeats, was a disaster, won two but now they come back to their best.

“I’m pretty sure all managers take a little time for more perspective and everyone has ups and downs in the competition.

“I have a higher opinion about Liverpool right now. Last season we were losing six games in seven games, it’s the same.”

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Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for City in the ninth minute, but Al Hilal equalised in the 46th minute through Marcos Leonardo.

Al Hilal took the lead in the 52nd minute when Malcom found the back of the net before Erling Haaland levelled matters three minutes later to send the match into extra-time.

The Saudi side restored their lead early in extra-time through Kalidou Koulibaly before Phil Foden drew the game level in the 104th minute.

The match looked set to be settled in a penalty shootout, but Leonardo completed his double in the 112th minute to guide his side to victory.

WATCH: Manchester City vs Al Hilal

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Arne Slot’s side snatched the league title from defending champions Man City after they beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at Anfield on Sunday.

The Reds have now equalled Manchester United with the most Premier League titles, with 20 each.

Guardiola has since congratulated Arne Slot and his Liverpool outfit after they ended Man City’s streak in the Premier League.

“On behalf of myself and all of the club, we want to congratulate Liverpool Football Club for the Premier League victory,” Guardiola said.

“Well deserved, no doubt about that – a fantastic team.

“During one year, like it happened the last four years [for City] they are going to retain the title and hopefully next season we can be better to compete until the end. This season, it could not be possible.

“Liverpool, congratulations.”

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A Phil Foden brace put City in the driving seat, but Yoane Wissa pulled one back in the 82nd minute and Christian Norgaard headed the equaliser in the second minute of injury time.

Guardiola said that with several key players missing through injury, City didn’t have the personnel to defend the type of balls they faced against Brentford.

“We have another type of player right now, and at the end we could not defend that situation,” Guardiola said.

“They put six, seven players in the box, crosses, and sometimes they are better, so there are more players, they are taller, they are stronger in (heading),” he added.

“What I missed today especially was that we didn’t take the right decision in the final third, in the actions where we could run, long balls we won and we could run, and in that moment we didn’t take the right decisions.

“I give credit to them, Brentford has always been a really, really tough opponent … they are an honest team, they are a generous team, I like the way they play, but today we created a lot.”

City, who are in sixth and 12 points behind leaders Liverpool, are next in action on Sunday when they travel to Ipswich Town.

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He said that the club’s board wanted to buy more players but he told them that they would be able to cope. But he said he should have taken up the chance because struggling City have been left short of options this term amid injuries to Rodri, Oscar Bobb, John Stones and Rúben Dias.

“In the summer the club thought about doing it [rebuilding the squad], and I said: ‘No, I don’t want to make any signings. I rely on the team and I want to stay with them’,” Guardiola said.

“Just Savio came in and Gundo came back. But after the injuries — wow — maybe we should have done it. You never know though in that position. I think the team is really good and the squad is really, really good.”

The January transfer window, however, is allowing Guardiola to make up. A £42-million deal has been agreed for Abdukodir Khusanov, the 20-year-old Racing Lens centre back, and the club are in talks with Palmeiras over the potential signing of Vitor Reis, the 18-year-old centre back who is valued at £33.5-million.

City are trying to sign the 25-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush this month and could also move for a central midfielder, with Éderson of Atalanta high on their shortlist.

Guardiola has suffered from a lack of numbers in defence this season with four of his five centre backs sidelined by injuries. Josko Gvardiol is the only centre back to remain free of injury, while Stones, Dias, Akanji and Nathan Aké have all struggled at times.

Stones, a crucial member of the Treble-winning team of two seasons ago, has played only one game in the past seven weeks, but is closing in on a return to fitness.

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With a 3-1 victory over West Ham, City won its sixth premier league trophy in seven years under the leadership of the Catalan, who since 2016 has elevated the team to incredible new heights.

Only Alex Ferguson, who won 13 Premier League titles during his lengthy reign at Manchester United, has more victories than he has.

The Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup were all won by City in the same season in 2019—a first for the club. The previous year, they repeated Manchester United’s 1999 feat by winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League—a title they had never held before.

Overtaking the feats of the legendary Liverpool and Manchester United sides from earlier eras, City is currently the first team in the history of the English Premier League to win four titles in a row.

And when they play United at Wembley in the FA Cup final the following week, they’ll try to become the first English team to win consecutive domestic doubles.

Guardiola, 53, a former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, is under contract at the Etihad until the conclusion of the 2019–20 season, although it is unknown what will happen to him after that.

“The reality is I’m closer to leaving than to staying,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “It’s eight years, will be nine.

“Right now my feeling is I want to stay next season. We talked with the club, we have time to talk next season because I have to see the players as well (to see) if they follow me, they follow us, for many reasons. I will stay and during the season we will talk when calm.”

Asked at his post-match press conference whether he felt as though he had “completed English football” and what he felt was left to achieve, Guardiola shrugged his shoulders and said: “I had that feeling last season.

“When we won in Istanbul (in the Champions League final) I said, ‘It’s over, what am I doing here? It’s over, there’s nothing left’.

“But I have a contract, I’m here and still enjoying. Some of the moments I’m a bit tired but some of the moments I love, and after I said ‘OK, we are here’.

“We start winning games, playing good, different players, new players and I start to think about ‘No one has done four in a row, why don’t we try?’ And now I feel ‘It’s done, so what next?’ I don’t know right now.”

He added: “Next season, right now, I’m not able to know exactly what will be the motivation to do it because it’s difficult sometimes to find it when everything is done.”

Guardiola declared that he was currently relishing the radiance of yet another Premier League victory.

“When I moved here if someone had said I would win six leagues in seven seasons I would say you’re insane — no way,” he said.

Photo by Backpagepix

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Thanks to Erling Haaland’s two goals in the second half of City’s victory over their bitter rivals Tottenham on Tuesday, they are now two points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the table.

Although it was a far from historic performance, Guardiola’s team did win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in the Premier League.

Before the Norwegian striker sealed the victory for the visitors with a penalty in stoppage time, replacement goalie Stefan Ortega had to make three key saves after Haaland opened the score early in the second period.

Since December 6, City has won eight straight Premier League games and is unbeaten in all open play competitions.

On the last day, though, they play West Ham with the knowledge that a loss will give Arsenal the opportunity to win the title provided they defeat Everton.

“They were playing for the consequences of the result. When you play football thinking about the consequences, you are going to lose the Premier League, you cannot perform at your best level,” said Guardiola of his side’s display.

“But they are human beings so I can understand the pressure is there.

“It will be the same against West Ham. We will feel the pressure.”

Two years ago, in similar circumstances, City needed a late comeback from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Aston Villa 3-2 and deny Liverpool the title.

“They feel it there and they know it. They are not celebrating, there is relief but there is still a job to do,” added Guardiola.

“The tennis players say ‘the serve to win Wimbledon is the most difficult one’.

“(We need to) prepare well, completely focus and try to win there.”

According to Rodri, City is prepared to shatter previous records by being the first team to win the English Premier League four times in a row.

“We know it wasn’t our best performance but we came here to win and that’s what we do,” said the Spanish midfielder.

“We have the experience of Aston Villa. We know it is going to be tough but with our people, our crowd, we know we can make history.”

Tottenham gave City a scare on a tense evening in north London, and Arsenal needed their local rivals to do them a favour.

Ederson was substituted by Ortega after the Brazilian took a blow to the head while challenging Cristian Romero.

Ederson was clearly upset about being substituted, but Ortega emerged as City’s hero when he made a spectacular save five minutes from time to keep Son Heung-min from tying the score.

“Stefan was simply incredible”, added Rodri.

“I know Edi was upset but the substitution makes sense because he had a concussion.”

Photo by Backpagepix

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The City boss has long been linked with the English job and according to insiders covets it, believing he can take them to World Cup glory and a repeat of their 1966 success.

With City facing 115 charges from the Premier League for various misdemeanours, even if some are proved it could have a huge destabilising effect on the club.
Those are set to be heard and decided on early next season, so for Guardiola to jump ship then does make some kind of sense.

Gareth Southgate is the current coach of England but is expected to exit the role at the end of the European Championships in Germany next June-July, whether England win or not.

After winning the ‘Treble’ with City last season, the Spanish reports suggest Guardiola “considers that his time in the Premier League is already very close to coming to an end”, and that he wants a national team job with little interest in taking on a club role.

The report adds that it “seems to have practically decided which challenge would most seduce him” with Guardiola to “take charge of the English national team, a country where he feels at home, both he and his family”.

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On Tuesday, the defending champions host RB Leipzig at Etihad Stadium for their fifth Group G match; thus far, they have secured four victories in four.

Although both Leipzig and them have secured positions in the knockout stage, the race for first place in the pool continues.

“We have to win or draw,” said Guardiola.

“The first step is done for both sides so congratulations to RB Leipzig to qualify for the next round in February.

“It is important to finish first. We believe that when we play the last 16, [having] the second leg at home is not decisive but an advantage and we have to take it.”

City defeated Leipzig on matchday two, 3-1. This result, coupled with City’s three-point lead over Leipzig, renders the permutations exactly as Guardiola outlined them.

By preventing a loss, City can effectively eliminate the possibility that it could finish in second place and be forced to face the victor of another group in the round of 16.

Every reason exists for the city to be optimistic. Leipzig are eleven points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen in fifth place in the German Bundesliga, whereas City have not suffered a home loss since November 2022.

Guardiola delivered a message of pessimism regarding a variety of fitness issues that his squad was experiencing.

Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish, Mateo Kovacic, and Sergio Gomez are all uncertainties.

While Kevin de Bruyne remains sidelined on an extended basis, John Stones’ situation has taken an unexpected turn for the better.

“Really close to coming back” from the injury he sustained in City’s 7 November victory over Young Boys, Stones, according to Guardiola, is “still recovering.”

Grealish was ruled out of the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Saturday due to illness.

“I’m not optimistic about some people coming back but we will see,” Guardiola said.

“I think it will be the same people who played against Liverpool. John Stones is getting better. He’s not for playing but maybe a few minutes.”

Photo by EPA/PETER POWELL

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Arsenal defeated the treble winners for the first time in the top flight since December 2015 thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected goal in the 86th minute at the Emirates Stadium.

After blowing their chance to win the championship last season with a late collapse that gave it to Guardiola’s team, Arsenal is currently two points ahead of City in second place and is vying for their first championship in 20 years.

Given their miserable run of 12 straight league losses to City prior to this past weekend, it was no surprise that Arteta and his players took part in the post-game celebrations on the field to the delight of their ecstatic supporters.

“It is a special one. It has been a long time since the club beat Manchester City,” Arteta said.

“We felt today could be the day but we needed a big performance from everyone and we had that.

“The players had incredible discipline, they won so many balls. We lacked a bit of threat but overall the atmosphere was just incredible.”

Bringing on Brazilian winger Martinelli as a halftime substitute was a smart move made by Arteta, and after coming off the bench, Thomas Partey and Kai Havertz both contributed to the goal.

“We started the second half really, really well. The subs made a huge difference,” Arteta said.

“Martinelli made a huge effort to be in the game, nobody believed he would (be) there. The medical staff were trembling but he was there and he was excellent.”

The agonising collapse Arsenal experienced last season may have had a negative impact on their spirits going into the current campaign.

But Arteta managed to keep his team on task, and before delivering the late sucker punch, they displayed an admirable desire to hold off City.

“We knew we would have to suffer and we did that. You need a big performance. It feels like a big win,” Arteta said.

“It sends a message to our team, to keep doing what we are doing and stay humble and then we are a very difficult team to beat.”

Arsenal enters the international break on a high after a cathartic victory that pushes them behind leaders Tottenham in goals scored, but Guardiola faces challenges after City suffered their third loss in their previous four games overall.

The champions have now dropped two straight league games for the first time since December 2018, with their collapse in north London coming after a 2-1 loss at Wolves the previous weekend and a League Cup loss against Newcastle.

“We tried. I think from both sides there was not a lot of chances. Both teams did good high pressing. It was tight and in the end, one action, we lost the game. Congratulations to them,” Guardiola said.

Erling Haaland and Kyle Walker of City appeared to get into a fight with Arsenal backroom personnel and security personnel after the final whistle, but both managers refused to say what caused the incident.

As both teams made their way to the tunnel, it appeared that Nicolas Jover, the Arsenal set-piece coach, and Haaland were pushing each other.

“I know what happened and I don’t want to say anything,” Guardiola said, while Arteta had nothing to add on the row.

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