They may not have always seen eye to eye but Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Pep Guardiola as the world’s best coach as he prepares his Paris Saint-Germain team to face Manchester City.
The pair clashed across a city as players and managers in Barcelona for Espanyol and Barca — and as Premier League rivals during Pochettino’s five years at Tottenham.
He once branded Guardiola ‘disrespectful’ for referring to Spurs as ‘the Harry Kane team’ but, ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final, he saluted the City boss.
‘For me, he is the best,’ said Pochettino, 49. ‘I admire him and think he is doing a fantastic job not only at Manchester City but in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
‘He is an amazing, intelligent coach, always thinking of different strategies and game-plans. I love to challenge him and the teams he prepared.
‘Not only the best manager. The club is important, too. A club that trusts you to build a team and provides you with all the tools to be successful. That is the combination at Manchester City between Pep, the coaching staff, the club, the board, everyone.
‘They create an amazing structure, very solid, and a very clear idea of how they need to act to be successful.’
Guardiola, 50, won the European Cup once as a player and twice as Barca manager, is attempting to lead City into the final of the competition for the first time.
Pochettino took Spurs to the final two years ago, knocking City out in the quarter-finals before defeat by Liverpool in the final. PSG lost in the final to Bayern Munich last year. The aim is, together, to go a step further.
‘The motivation is there because the players really want to win the Champions League,’ said the PSG boss. ‘We now have the experience but we need to go step by step. Now, we have to beat Manchester City and it is going to be really, really tough.’
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