PEP GUARDIOLA was brought to tears as he paid respect to outgoing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Manchester City were crowned English champions for the 10th time – eighth in the Premier League era – after beating West Ham 3-1 on the final day.
It was a historic day for English football as no club had ever won four titles in a row before Guardiola’s outfit.
However, the Spaniard took a moment out of the celebrations to talk about Klopp, who has been his No1 rival during his time in England.
And the 53-year-old struggled to speak as paid an emotional tribute to the German.
He said: “I will miss him a lot. Jurgen has been a really important part of my life.
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“He brought me to another level as a manager.
“I think we respect each other incredibly.
“I have the feeling he will be back.
“I just want to say thank you so much for his words but he knows personally that behind me there is a lot of things this club has provided and given to me.”
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Klopp, 56, had hailed the ex-Barcelona manager as “the best manager in the world” following his Anfield farewell, regardless of the 115 charges still looming over the Etihad club.
He said: “Everybody knows about the 115 charges, but I have no clue what that means.
“I only know the number. Whatever has happened at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world – and that is really 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 what they want?
“No. But I don’t know what they did – if they did anything – and I’m not here to say they have.
”We will see. Of course, I would like to know (if City are guilty) one day.
“Everyone wants to know. But I will be somewhere else.
“The quality of Pep makes the difference so I don’t worry about these things.
“We will see. It’s not my problem and I am fine with what we have and what we’ve achieved.”
Klopp is the only manager to have won more games against Guardiola than he has lost.
The Reds also finished runners up to City twice with the title going down to the final day, with one season seeing them finish on 97 points and the other seeing them finish on 92.
Liverpool also knocked City out of the Champions League in spectacular fashion in 2018.
Moments after lifting the title, Guardiola hinted he could follow him out of the door when his contract is up next season.
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He said: “The reality is I am closer to leaving than staying. We have talked with the club — my feeling is that I want to stay now.
“So I will stay next season and during the season we will talk. But eight or nine years? We will see.”
Man City’s five key moments this season
A look at the five key moments in Man City’s title winning campaign…
- Luton 1 – 2 Man City: City bounce back from a run of four games without a win to kick-start their unbeaten run.
- Newcastle 2 – 3 Man City: Kevin De Bruyne returns from injury to come off the bench and inspire a late turnaround against the Magpies.
- Man City 3 – 1 Man Utd: Phil Foden puts on a masterclass as City lay down a marker on their title ambitions and breeze past their local rivals in the process.
- Man City 0 – 0 Arsenal: A goalless draw that, although disappointing, meant City were still keeping pace with the teams around them and could maintain their spot in the title race. A loss could have put Arsenal out of sight of the Cityzens.
- Man City 4 – 1 Aston Villa: Following consecutive draws against title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, City bounce back with a thumping of Unai Emery’s high-flying Villa to keep the pressure on the Gunners.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
