Liverpool Sunday’s match between Liverpool and Manchester City will be the first in a series that could determine three trophies. Both teams cannot predict what lies ahead.
MANCHESTER (England) — Pep Guardiola lay in a Madrid hotel room staring at the ceiling and contemplating his next move. Two sapping games and half a dozen choleric conferences had been his experience. He was now contemplating his next move after more than a week filled with highly charged, thinly disguised animosity. He was exhausted and frustrated, and he was only halfway through.
Guardiola’s Barcelona met Jose Mourinho’s
Guardiola’s Barcelona met Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid four more times in 18 days during the spring 2011 competition. In the Spanish league, there was a Clasico. In the Copa del Rey final, there was a clasico. In the semifinals of the Champions League, there were two clasicos (away and home)
Guardiola was drawn to his room by the games but not the people. Guardiola found the games a relief from Mourinho’s constant psychological warfare, his endless rancour and pervasive friction. Guardiola was aware that he was being forced to lose his cool and get into a fight he couldn’t win.
Paolo Condo, an Italian journalist
Retrospectively, these 18 days, captured by Paolo Condo, an Italian journalist, in his book “The Duellists,” were the culmination of a defining rivalry in soccer in the early 21st century. It was a clash between cultures that reverberated far beyond the bitter and long history of Real Madrid or Barcelona.
It wasn’t just the Clasico. It wasn’t just Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo. Guardiola versus Mourinho was not the only match. Mourinho is one of the most respected managers in the world. Two opposing visions, two different styles, two opposing forces. The creator against the cynic, and the light against the dark.
Barcelona won the Champions League
Guardiola was the victor in the immediate aftermath. Mourinho hoped that Guardiola would lose his cool and Barcelona lost the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the Champions League and the league that year. However, hindsight would show that all of this came at a price for both men.
Mourinho won the Spanish title
Mourinho won the Spanish title a year later. This would be his most significant achievement in Spain, and also the end of his decade-long reign of greatness. He would still win a few other championships. After Real Madrid, Mourinho saw a shift in his game. His flame never burned so brightly.
Guardiola was also affected by the scars. He was tired and dehydrated when he left Barcelona in 2012. He couldn’t, he stated, continue. He needed a break. Mourinho wasn’t the only one responsible for his fatigue. However, it’s hard to believe that rivalry was not a major factor. Guardiola needed a year of sabbatical in New York to recharge his batteries.
He could be forgiven for recognizing echoes from 2011 more than a decade after his last match. Guardiola’s latest masterpiece, Manchester City, which he led to three Premier League titles over four years, will be facing Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool twice in seven days.
irst meet at the Etihad Premier League on Sunday
The teams will first meet at the Etihad Premier League on Sunday. This game will determine the next England champion. They will meet again next Saturday at Wembley, in the semifinals for the F.A. Cup. These matches could be a precursor to a third, more important meeting: Liverpool and City are favourites to reach the Champions League final in Paris on May 28th.
Of course, the parallel to those 18 days in Spain is not perfect. Although Liverpool and Manchester City have enjoyed a fierce rivalry over the years, it lacks the depth or context of the Clasico. Its tendrils are not rooted in decades and it is not tied to questions of history, politics, and especially national identity.
Guardiola, Klopp and Mourinho do not share the same combustible chemistry. Although it would be an exaggeration to say that they are friends, nearly a decade since they first met in Germany, their friendship is still strong. Guardiola called Klopp at 3 AM to congratulate him for winning the Premier League in 2020. Klopp calls Guardiola the greatest coach in the world at every chance.
Madrid or Barcelona
However, many of the ingredients are still present. Everything depends on the games between these clubs, just as it was with Real Madrid or Barcelona. One of these teams will win Premier League. One of these teams will be in the F.A. Cup final as the heavy favourite. Bayern Munich could be considered a peer for the Champions League.
Although both coaches tried to discredit the idea, they are seen as seeking multiples of glory. City, a domestic & European treble last achieved by an English team back in 1999, and Liverpool, which is an unprecedented sweep of all four of their trophies. In this light, their meetings are the entire game.
lofty goals show that Liverpool and City
Their lofty goals show that Liverpool and City are both worthy of being considered the best teams on the planet. Bayern may be the only one who can disagree with this assessment, just like Real Madrid or Barcelona in 2011. They will be led again by two of the most talented coaches of their generation.
These two men are the scions from two great schools of thought and have done more than anyone to define what elite soccer should look like in 2020. The rivalry between City and Liverpool has no roots in the past. It does however encapsulate today.
institutional hostility
However, affection should not be confused with overt institutional hostility. It can seem superficial and almost contagious that there is a schism between Liverpool and Manchester City. This is because it is instinctive rather than heartfelt friction. It isn’t.
Liverpool’s improper access
A series of flashpoints were identified, normally deemed serious transgressions on one side, but dismissed as trivial by the other. These included the City’s complaint about Liverpool’s improper access to its recruitment software in 2013. Liverpool also paid PS1,000,000 ($1.3 million) for compensation.
The City team bus was pelted with bottles upon arrival at Anfield in 2018. Liverpool’s irritation at a 2019 video showing City’s players using a terrace chant calling its opponent “victims in it all.” This insult is often linked with the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy that resulted
These events are all rooted in a deeply-rooted clash of corporate philosophies. Liverpool’s hierarchy believes Manchester City’s dominance has been achieved by financial doping, as revealed in a cache of documents leaked to Der Spiegel. Liverpool’s executives view Liverpool as the prime example of a long-standing cartel that feels threatened due to the emergence of genuine competition.
The coaches are no different. The mutual admiration between Klopp and Guardiola should not be overlooked by the intense competition between them.
Guardiola and his staff discuss the danger posed by Liverpool’s
Guardiola and his staff discuss the danger posed by Liverpool’s famous front three in a scene from “All Or Nothing”, the documentary that followed City’s 2018 victory in the Premier League. This isn’t a remarkable scene in and of itself. It is notable that they are doing this in Goodison Park’s changing room, just a few minutes before Everton’s game.
Guardiola has not made it a secret that he is focused on Liverpool. He also told a seminar at the university of the city that he didn’t read much anymore because his mind would wander to Liverpool after just a few minutes.
He was asked earlier this year if anyone could catch City, who had a clear lead at the top of the Premier League. He replied, “They are always there.” He said, “They are always present.” He said, “They are always there,” and that Klopp was his “greatest rival”.
Guardiola stated, “When I retire, and I’m golfing, I will look back at Liverpool as the most difficult opponent I faced, undoubtedly.”
The rivalry between Liverpool, Manchester City and Guardiola has defined English soccer for the past four years. It will be decided how the story of England soccer is told over the next seven days and possibly six weeks. Guardiola has seen firsthand how this level of competition can leave its mark. It is possible that neither the coach nor the team will be the same after it all ends.
Also, Read
