"I will sleep better", Guardiola's joke shows his respect for Klopp

This week the soccer world was shocked by Jurgen Klopp's decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season. The German coach has been largely responsible for The Reds' successes over the last decade, including the 2019 Champions League and 2020 Premier League titles. He also gave the team its own style, raised the level of the players and won the admiration of the fans.

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He is also highly respected by his colleagues. Among them Pep Guardiola, who has been his rival for many years. First in Germany, when the Spanish coach was at Bayern Munich and Klopp was at Borussia Dortmund. And then they met again in England, the former at Manchester City and the latter at Liverpool.

After the news broke, Pep Guardiola was asked at a press conference how he felt about Jurgen's decision. "I will sleep better," he began jokingly, and then added: "The games against Liverpool have almost been a nightmare. Of course he will be missed. I was shocked like everyone. I felt, listening to the news, that a part of Man City will lose something".

"We cannot define our period together here without him. We cannot define our period without Liverpool. It's impossible. They've been our biggest rival and personally he's been the best rival I've ever had in my life." This is incredible praise from Guardiola to Klopp, considering that the Spanish coach has faced other excellent coaches throughout his professional career, such as Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.

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Who will replace him?

After the news about Klopp, social media was flooded with rumors about his replacement on the Liverpool bench. Most agree that Xabi Alonso is the main favorite, considering his past as a player at the English club and his success with Bayer Leverkusen this season. Other alternatives are coaches who have performed well in the Premier League recently, such as Graham Potter, Unai Emery and Roberto De Zerbi.