Pep Guardiola will oversee his 1,000th game as a manager when Manchester City face Liverpool on Sunday, and the Spaniard says he couldn’t have asked for a better fixture to mark the milestone.

“Liverpool have been the biggest rival in this country, and it could not be better, to be honest,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday. “I think we pushed Liverpool to be better, and Liverpool pushed us to be better. That’s for sure.”

The former Spain midfielder is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time, having won a total of 12 domestic league titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City, alongside three Champions League trophies and numerous other cups.

Guardiola expressed pride at being inducted into the League Managers Association (LMA) Hall of Fame 1,000 Club, joining 38 other managers who have worked in England, including Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.

“The journey, the experiences, have been unbelievable,” said Guardiola, whose first coaching role came with Barcelona B in the Spanish fourth tier in 2007.

“The numbers are insane. I’ve won 715 out of my first 999 games. It’s difficult to reach this milestone, and if I started again, I wouldn’t get there. It’s been a lot of hard work, dedication, passion, and love. Nobody can beat that. I love the game, and I love to scrutinize what we can do to opponents. Hopefully, Sunday we can continue.”

Asked about being called the best manager ever, the 54-year-old joked: “They are completely right! Every manager has left their influence on history. Of course, I can say I’ve been part of that because the numbers show success, and it’s been amazing to watch my teams. But I never started thinking, ‘I want to be the best.’”

Despite an overall win rate of more than 70%, Liverpool have posed a significant challenge for Guardiola since he joined City in 2016, first under Jürgen Klopp and now Arne Slot. He has won only seven of 24 meetings against the Reds, losing 10, including both fixtures last season when Liverpool dethroned City as Premier League champions.

Many of these clashes have been pivotal in title races, and Sunday’s match could influence which club will chase down Arsenal, who may hold a nine-point lead over City by kickoff at the Etihad Stadium.

“If Arsenal continue this way, not conceding goals or even clear chances, it will be almost impossible to catch them,” said Guardiola, who has won six Premier League titles with City.

“But you always expect you can be better, and they can drop points. The only thing we can do is win our games to stay close, and they have to come here. It’s exceptional what they’ve done over the past two or three seasons, and every time it’s closer. But it’s still early November. You don’t win the title in November, but you can lose it.”

Despite the high stakes, Guardiola confirmed that midfielder Rodri, recently returned from injury, is unlikely to be risked in Sunday’s game.