Manchester City included Jürgen Klopp — a man who never managed them, never played for them, and spent a decade trying to beat them — in the official artwork marking Pep Guardiola's final day in charge. That tells you everything about what this rivalry actually meant.
The tribute poster, shared on X before City's last home match of the 2025–26 season against Aston Villa, was packed with names that built the Guardiola era: Kompany, De Bruyne, Foden, Haaland, Rodri, Fernandinho. The only face not connected to the club was Klopp's. Fans were told to "pinch and zoom to catch every detail." When they did, there he was.
The rivalry that made both sides better
It wasn't sentiment. It was accuracy. Guardiola said it himself when Klopp left Liverpool last year: "We cannot define our period here without him... without Liverpool. Impossible." City winning 98 points in 2018–19 and still only just holding off a Liverpool side that finished on 97 — still the highest points tally ever recorded by a non-champion, and fourth highest in English league history — tells you what kind of standard both managers were operating at.
Liverpool won the title in 2019–20 with 99 points. City came back. Both clubs cleared 90 points again in 2021–22. City edged it again. This wasn't dominance — it was two managers dragging each other to levels the league hadn't seen before.
Andy Robertson said it plainly on the day of his own final Liverpool appearance: "Pep Guardiola pushed us to completely new limits. Probably, we should have won more Premier Leagues if it wasn't for that man." Klopp, for his part, noted the two were never close personally, but "for a rivalry, we don't need to be disrespectful."
What comes next for both men
Neither is in a hurry to return to the dugout. Klopp has been in a Head of Global Soccer role at Red Bull since leaving Anfield. Guardiola is moving into an ambassadorial and technical advisory position with the City Football Group. Both are taking a breath.
But the paths forward are worth watching. Guardiola has long wanted to manage a national team at a World Cup — Spain is complicated given his Catalan sympathies, but options exist across Europe and beyond. Klopp has denied interest in a return to club management, though Paris FC have reportedly made their interest known via Red Bull connections. The job he likely wants, though, is Germany — currently occupied by Julian Nagelsmann on a contract through Euro 2028. Klopp isn't pushing. He doesn't need to.
"As a coach I'm not completely finished. I haven't reached retirement age," he said. That's not a retirement speech. That's a man waiting for the right door to open.
The fact that City felt compelled to put him in the artwork anyway — that's the most fitting summary of what these ten years were. You can't tell Guardiola's story without Klopp in the frame.
