Pep Guardiola spoke about his admiration for Manuel Pellegrini during an interview for a book on the Chilean manager.
"I am a huge fan of Pellegrini. I have learned much from him and his concepts," Guardiola said of the Chilean coach. "I am lucky to be a great admirer and a colleague of him. I feel as though I am a follower of him, of his game philosophy. One can watch one of his teams without knowing who trains them and one would immediately know that this is a Pellegrini team just by they way they play."
In their 11 meetings, Pellegrini's teams have only registered two victories over Guardiola, with one draw.
"He likes good players, those who control the ball and always play ahead," Guardiola said. "His teams play very well. I enjoy watching them. He is a coach whose ideas are very clear. I have faced him several times and I have suffered when he was with Villarreal or with Real Madrid while I was at Barcelona. The same with him now at City and with me here at Bayern."