The six managers with the most wins over Pep Guardiola: Ancelotti, Solskjaer…

Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest football managers of all time, but a number of fellow top coaches have managed to get one over him in the past.

Considering Guardiola has only been working in football management since 2007, his trophy cabinet is absolutely astonishing. During his stints with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City, he’s managed to win a whopping 38 major honours.

We’ve taken a closer look at the Spanish coach and have found the six managers with the most wins over Guardiola throughout his career so far.

Antonio Conte – 4 losses

During Guardiola’s entire career, only four managers have ever finished above him in the league. Conte is lucky enough to be one of those managers as his Chelsea side finished 15 ahead of Guardiola’s City back in 2016-17.

The charismatic Italian boss has enjoyed some great battles with Guardiola over the years and in total, he’s won four of them. It’s safe to say that the Man City boss has a lot of respect for Conte.

“I learn a lot watching his teams, the movement. If the club rely on him 100 per cent and his ideas, he knows,” said Guardiola.

“All the success managers is because they are invested behind. He showed in Juventus and changed many things since he arrived, at Milano, at Chelsea.

“I have incredible respect because when I watch his teams I learn something new.”

READ: Just four managers have ever finished ahead of Pep Guardiola

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – 4 losses

The Red Devils always seemed to have something up their sleeve against Guardiola when Solskjaer was in charge. The counter-attacking style that Solskjaer had developed at Man Utd seemed to be the perfect philosophy to unsettle Guardiola’s men.

In the nine games that Guardiola has faced Solskjaer, he managed to win four, draw one and lose four. Considering the Red Devils were miles behind Man City during Solskjaer’s tenure at the club, that’s a bloody good record for the Norwegian boss.

Carlo Ancelotti – 4 losses

For whatever tactical plan Guardiola can put in place, Don Carlo always seems to have an answer. There can be no doubt that both managers rank among the greatest of all time and they’ve each enjoyed some thrilling battles against one another.

Last season Guardiola got one over on his Italian nemesis by knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League and this time around, Ancelotti returned the favour.

Technically, their last meeting at the Etihad ended level as the game was a draw after 90 minutes had been played. But with Real Madrid progressing on penalties, it was Ancelotti who had the final laugh.

READ NEXT: The most successful managers in football history by trophies won: Ferguson, Guardiola, Mourinho…

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player Pep Guardiola has signed for £10m+?

Mauricio Pochettino – 4 losses

Pochettino is the only manager to have finished above Guardiola in the league and not won the league title. That was the case in 2016-17 as Spurs finished eight points ahead of Man City, only to finish second themselves.

Still, Pochettino has had some great battles with Guardiola over the years. Undoubtedly, his sweetest triumph over Pep will have been in the Champions League as Spurs won a thrilling European tie against Man City in 2018-19 UCL quarter-finals.

With Pochettino set to face Guardiola once again this weekend in the FA Cup, he’ll be hoping for a similar outcome this time around.

Jose Mourinho – 7 losses

During their time together in Spain, this was a bitter rivalry which was hotly contested. Both managers would regularly throw jibes at each other in the press and the games between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the time were box-office viewing.

In recent years, their rivalry has cooled, although Mourinho still manages to get one over on Guardiola every once in a while.

The two managers have met a total of 25 times and to be fair to Guardiola, he does have a far superior record. Against Mourinho, he’s won 12, drawn six and lost seven.

Jurgen Klopp – 12 losses

Of all of the managers on this list, Klopp is the only person who has more wins over Guardiola than the Spanish boss has over him.

Considering Klopp is often in charge of the underdog side, whether that’s Borussia Dortmund or Liverpool, he always seems to have Pep’s number in the big matches.

“They [Liverpool] have been our biggest rivals. And personally he [Klopp] has been the best rival I ever had in my life – in Dortmund when I was in Bayern, then here,” Guardiola told reporters in January.

“I think the Premier League are going to miss him – the charisma, the personality and especially the way his teams play.

“Maybe it’s my opinion and he will not admit it but he will be back. I know it. Football needs managers and personalities like him. And I hope … it was our dream when we were together … hopefully now from next season we can have time to go to dinner together. Or have the drink that we deserve to take.”