Will Jurgen Klopp usurp Pep Guardiola as the world's best coach if he wins the 2022 Champions League?

If Jurgen Klopp wins the Champions League for a second time with Liverpool this season, can he be considered a better manager than Pep Guardiola? On the face of it, it’s a foolish question. Guardiola took Marcelo Bielsa’s tactical approach and made the key tweak that it is better to win a game than lose it.

Allied with Lionel Messi, he used the greatest player of all time to create the greatest team of all time. Ad/> The small details he introduced, the brilliant victories he oversaw, and the trophies he won continue to mark him out as the best manager of the 2000s.

The Emirates FA CupMan City secure 4-1 win at West Ham to reach Women's FA Cup final16/04/2022 AT 17:51 But few managers span decades as great managers. Alex Ferguson managed it because he was afforded unprecedented control over Manchester United and was fortunate enough to have the Class of ‘92 to guide to the Treble, and then paired Cristiano Ronaldo with Wayne Rooney to win his second Champions League title.

Despite a host of other titles over three decades, there are nevertheless legitimate misgivings over Ferguson’s time at United. It is currently fair to raise some similar questions of Guardiola.

Given he is a man who has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on full-backs, his record of European trophies is damned by the fact he only ever won them when he had Messi at his disposal. Opinion: Ten Hag needs to clear out any doubters this summer or face Man Utd failure 'We are reaching the Real Madrid zone' — View from Spain ahead of Man City clash 'Weirdest marriage in recent history' — View from France on Pochettino and Conte at PSG It would be churlish to deny him the glory associated with those wins, but it would also be foolish not to leave an asterisk