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Pep Guardiola admits he misses Jurgen Klopp as he prepares to face his old rival's former club in the 1,000th game of his managerial career.
The Manchester City boss reaches the landmark when his side host Liverpool on Sunday, a fitting opponent given their decade-long rivalry under Klopp.
Guardiola enjoyed some of his fiercest title battles against the German before he stepped away from Anfield last year, and he ranks those duels among the highlights of his career.
'If I were to choose one rival for this personal milestone, that I want to share with many people, they would be the best,' Guardiola said.
'I've been longer than ever in this country. Of course Barcelona, the impact on my life as a ballboy, football player, manager, and so on is obvious and Bayern was an incredible step as well.
'But Liverpool, especially with Jurgen, have been the biggest rivals in this country and it could not be better, to be honest. So destiny decided that and it's nice to live it.'
Pep Guardiola has revealed that Jurgen Klopp is the managerial rival he misses the most
The City boss, who has won six Premier League titles, is approaching his 1,000th game in management
The Spaniard revealed he still misses the challenge of facing Klopp., adding: 'In terms of Jurgen's side or Pep's side, I think we respected each other. I had the feeling that Jurgen gave me a lot and I miss him.
'He gave me a lot in sense of, to beat that guy, how much I have to think and work and do it, to make it better.'
Sunday's clash comes as Guardiola hits another extraordinary milestone. Since taking charge of Barcelona B in 2007, he has overseen 999 matches and won 715 of them.
'The numbers are insane,' he said. 'I'm not living thinking of how many, but when you have the milestone and you read what you have done, the victories, the averages, not just in the Premier League, in the Champions League.
'We have done incredible things in Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here. It's so difficult to reach it.'
Guardiola, who has won six Premier League titles and the Champions League with City, insists his success has only been possible because of the players he has worked with.
'I've said that a thousand million times,' he said. 'It looks like false humility but that is the reality.
'This percentage, beyond 70 per cent of victories, how does it happen? It can happen because you are in Barcelona, Munich and Man City with the players I had. No more secrets. After that, it's a lot of hard work, dedication, passion, love, and determination that nobody beats me.'
Guardiola has remarkably won 715 of the 999 games he has overseen since first being put in charge of Barcelona B in 2007
He joked that those who call him the greatest ever are 'completely right' before adopting a more modest tone.
'I never started to think I want to be the best,' he said. 'I am fine with defeats.'
