Over the years, Pep Guardiola has come up against many worthy adversaries from within the world of football. It would be wrong to suggest he’s not gotten the better of all of them at one point or another.

Twice, for example, he beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side in the Champions League final. In fact, Mikel Arteta is the only manager to finish ahead of Guardiola in the league twice with Arsenal – doing so in 2024/25 and then again in 2025/26 (although only the latter led to a Premier League title).

With that in mind, it’s no shock to learn that the Catalan coach has won three La Liga titles, three Bundesliga titles, six Premier Leagues, and the Champions League twice during his career as a manager. Talking more recently about his time in England, however, he has revealed one man was a ‘nightmare’ to come up against.

Guardiola Had Many Battles Against Premier League Icon

In an interview with Oasis musician Noel Gallagher on Manchester City’s website, Guardiola said that Jurgen Klopp was a nightmare to come up against when he was in charge of Liverpool. Even though he enjoyed a ‘good’ relationship with the German, he revealed how hard he found it to cope at Anfield, explaining:

Guardiola Had a Lot of Respect For Anfield

Not only was Klopp hard to come up against, but his iconic Liverpool team were boosted by an intimidating home ground. Indeed, Guardiola praised the stadium’s history:

Guardiola was pushed right to his limit in a number of title races, notably beating Liverpool by just one point during the 2018/19 season when Klopp’s men earned 97 points but still lost out. More pain happened for the Reds in 2019/20 when Man City managed 93 points, once again beating the German’s side by one point.

The former Barcelona manager has faced Klopp on 30 occasions across his career in total, coming up against Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool as Bayern Munich and Man City boss. In that time, he’s won 11 matches, drawn seven and lost 12. He’s never drawn or lost more times against any other manager.

They certainly had some legendary battles over the years.

Iran have launched a furious accusation against the USA in a fresh statement released just days before the start of the 2026 World Cup. Team Melli’s conflict with the host nation is nothing new, with complications previously arising over visa issues, safety concerns, and the ongoing tensions in the Middle East during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Despite all of that, Iran will be competing in this summer’s major international tournament. They will base themselves in Mexico rather than Arizona in an effort to make their preparations as straightforward as possible given the geopolitical tensions. They face Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand in Group G, with their opener against the latter coming in Inglewood, California, on June 16.

According to the White House, Iran’s players have already been granted visas allowing them to enter the United States. However, several members of the travelling party’s backroom staff are still awaiting theirs, renewing hostilities at the worst possible time.

Iran Launch Furious Accusation Against USA Ahead of World Cup Opener

As reported by Iran’s state media agency Tasnim, a number of officials, including executive director Mehdi Kharati, the secretary-general of the football federation, Hedayat Mombini, and media director Mohsen Motamedkia, are yet to receive their visas. In a statement on Saturday afternoon, it has accused the USA of “hostile actions”:

Meanwhile, the Turkey-based Iranian Embassy also took to X, posting a similar statement slamming the US for ‘deliberately’ blocking staff members’ visas. “Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers and others who are an integral part of any national football team?” the Iranian embassy posted.

The statement continued: “You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level.”

Journalists Also Facing Visa Complications

It turns out that Iranian and African journalists were also coming up against the same struggles as Team Melli this weekend. In a letter set to FIFA, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) president Gianni Merlo wrote: “We find ourselves facing a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists: the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues.

“We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work, because their presence will be crucial to the image of sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States of America, where freedom of the press is a must.

“I hope FIFA can do everything possible to secure visas. We’re already significantly behind schedule, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use plane tickets booked on time, and they’ll also face significant additional expenses.”

A FIFA spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic that the organisation had received the letter before adding that this was an immigration matter controlled by the host nations – the US, Mexico and Canada.

Newcastle United have opened talks with FC Koln over a deal to sign highly-rated winger Said El Mala to replace Anthony Gordon, according to TEAMtalk.

The Magpies are anticipating a busy summer transfer window after selling Anthony Gordon to Barcelona for £70m, with their 12th-placed finish in the Premier League meaning they will have no European football for next season.

Eddie Howe is desperate to bring in attacking reinforcements as a result, while he plans a major squad overhaul, and a talented Bundesliga forward has now emerged as a real target.

Newcastle Open Talks for El Mala

El Mala, who has been described as a ‘one in a million talent’, has enjoyed a brilliant season with Koln in the Bundesliga, registering 13 goals and four assists in just 20 starts for the club.

Those performances have attracted strong interest from a number of clubs across Europe, including Premier League rivals Brentford. The Bees actually tabled a €45+5m bid (£43m) for the 19-year-old, but have since been informed he doesn’t want to join them.

However, that bid was accepted by Koln, and it has now opened the door for other clubs to try and agree terms with the winger, including Newcastle.

Newcastle have now opened talks with the Bundesliga club to agree terms over a deal, while they also want permission to speak to the German winger.

However, the big sticking point so far has been that his representatives are his parents, and they are pushing for any club that signs Said to also sign his older brother Malik, who also plays for the Bundesliga side.

Newcastle Pushing for Gordon Replacement

Newcastle know that selling clubs will be aware they have money to spend after selling Gordon, and they know he needs to be replaced. That is likely to see asking prices raised as a result whenever they knock on the door, so they have to be smart.

El Mala is an unbelievable talent, and Newcastle now know the formula that Koln would be willing to accept to let him leave. That gives them some leverage in talks, and now a deal relies on them agreeing terms with the player and his representatives.

He is clearly ready to make the step up to the next level, and will have seen how players like Gordon and Alexander Isak developed at St James’ Park, which could well be appealing to him.