Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised his opponents after his side’s 2-0 Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal at Wembley.
In his post-match comments, he described Arsenal as one of Europe’s elite teams, ranking them alongside Bayern Munich and Barcelona as the continent’s top three teams at the moment.
“Along with Bayern Munich and maybe Barcelona, [Arsenal] is the best team in Europe,” Guardiola said.
The quote came despite City’s victory (with Nico O’Reilly scoring twice) and highlighted Guardiola’s respect for Mikel Arteta’s side, who he called stifling in the early stages.
Notably, he left out his Manchester City – despite their success in the Carabao Cup and historic dominance under his management – and Real Madrid, the team that eliminated City in the Champions League round of 16.
Guardiola is truly impressed with Bayern Munich, led by his former player and student, Vincent Kompany.
The Spanish coach is also very impressed with his former team in Spain, led by Hansi Flick.
