Pep Guardiola says he has never believed he is the best coach in the world

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has admitted that he would not win as many trophies if he was not at a club like Manchester City.

Guardiola is widely regarded as one of the world's leading coaches, having claimed silverware at each of his three clubs.

The Catalan won three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and two Copas del Rey during his four-season spell in charge of Barcelona.

He then lifted three Bundesliga titles and DFB-Pokals at Bayern Munich, before his move to the Etihad Stadium in 2016.

Guardiola has since guided Manchester City to two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup, but despite his extraordinary success in recent years, he does not think of himself as the best manager on the planet.

"I was," he told Sky Sports when it was put to him that he was the best coach in the world.

“What is the best coach in the world? I never felt I am the best, never in my life. 

“When I won six titles in a row in Barcelona and won trebles, I never felt that. I won because I had extraordinary players at big clubs.

“There are incredible managers, they don't have these players, they don't have these big clubs. I'm a good manager but not the best.

“Give me a team that is not like Manchester City, I am not going to win.”

Guardiola has little chance of winning a third consecutive Premier League title this season, with Liverpool 22 points clear at the top.

The City boss praised Jurgen Klopp for the work he has done at Anfield, although he also pointed out that the Reds' success has been a long time in the making.

“Liverpool spent four or five years to win their first trophy last season,” he added. 

“It was a process. New players, investment, more and more, and after they got them they are the best team in the world right now.

“Sometimes people believe if you are Pep, Jurgen, or you are another [big] name, you have to win all titles every season with 2000 million points and 2000 million goals. 

“Sometimes it’s not possible, sometimes because of the opposition, sometimes you cannot do it. Not all the time in any sport has a team won everything every season all of the time.”

City will now turn their attention to other competitions, with Real Madrid drawn as their opponents in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“We played really well this season,” Guardiola continued. “In the games we lost we played really really well, and the hunger is not the reason why [we lost].

“We work harder than last season when we won all the domestic trophies in this country.

"I want to win the Champions League. I dream and will enjoy preparing games games against Madrid, to see what we can do.

“This process, these two weeks, are the happiest moments of my profession - looking at what we can do to beat them.”

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).