It all started on Sept. 2, 2007, in a Spanish fourth-tier game against Premia in front of around 2,000 fans.
Eighteen years later, Pep Guardiola will reach 1,000 games as a coach when he leads Manchester City into one of the biggest games in world soccer — against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
“I never thought for one second about reaching 1,000 games,” the 54-year-old Guardiola said. “You just want to do a good job, play football the right way and see what happens.”
From his first job with Barcelona ‘B’ to trophy-laden stints with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, Guardiola has changed the face of soccer in his remarkable coaching career.
He thanked all the great players — they include Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne — that have helped him along the way.
“After that,” Guardiola added Friday, ”it’s a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, passion, love. In that, nobody beats me.”
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at Guardiola as a coach — and even he is shocked by the statistics.
“The numbers are insane, I’m sorry to tell you,” Guardiola said with a smile. “When you have this milestone and you read what you have done … if I start again, I will not reach it.” – AP
