Pep Guardiola was keen to give Spanish journalists a brief history lesson after exiting the Champions League.
Guardiola’s Manchester City lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 tie and 5-1 on aggregate, a comprehensive defeat against a team who haven’t exactly been in great form.
The result means Guardiola has only won one of his last seven meetings against his long-time rivals, a statistic that was far more weighted in his favour during his days with Barcelona.
As such, a journalist asked him if mastering Madrid while City boss has been the hardest challenge of his career.
“No,” he began categorically.
“The biggest challenge has been Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool these past few years here. That’s what it’s been like.
“You were… You were in Spain and you didn’t realise what that competition between Liverpool and City has been like these past few years.
“It’s been a very good learning experience for the club, because this team twelve or thirteen years ago was never in Europe, and to play against Real Madrid so many times… With the generation we had, we could have done it.
“They’ve won, we’ve won, we’re similar in numbers. They’ve knocked us out more times in knockout rounds. But how have we played? They know that too.”
Guardiola’s thoughts on Arbeloa
Guardiola was then asked for his take on new Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa.
“He’s good, really good. I liked them,” he said.
“Their start today was very good, opening up the inside, it was very difficult to get past them…
“Good, they links up when they can, because of the quality they have around them.
“He made a great impression on me and he’ll have a long career.”
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