Pep Guardiola will become 'the greatest' manager if he wins Champions League with Manchester City, says Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand thinks Champions League success with Manchester City will confirm Pep Guardiola as the best football manager in the world. To do that, the Spaniard must out-smart the most successful coach in the competition’s history in Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti. Ad Ancelotti is a four-time winner of Europe’s biggest trophy, while Guardiola twice got his hands on it while manager of Barcelona.

Champions LeagueMan City are not out for 'revenge' against Real Madrid — GuardiolaYESTERDAY AT 19:53 Speaking on BT Sport in the build-up to the Champions League semi-final first leg between the teams, Ferdinand was asked if any other managers in the game right now compare to Guardiola and Ancelotti. “These two are head and shoulders [above the rest]," he said. "[Jose] Mourinho in years gone by, and he’s doing a great job at Roma, but these two for history and for now are stand alone”, he said.

“He [Guardiola] wins this here, I think he goes standalone as the greatest.” 2001 Ballon D’Or winner Michael Owen gave his thoughts on the pair, and agrees there is a certain trophy missing from Guardiola’s resume. “I think Pep’s the best personally," he said. «But I do think he needs to win this competition with Manchester City for everybody to just put the icing on the cake in many ways.

“Yes, he’s done it before, he’s done it with great teams and he is an unbelievable manager. For the general public, they’ll want to see him win it with another team and this is the team that Pep built. “He’s been here quite a while now.