Pep Guardiola has explained why his rivalry with Jurgen Klopp has never become too heated ahead of Manchester City welcoming Liverpool to the Etihad.
The two clubs have formed one of the biggest rivalries in the division in recent years as they have battled it out for Premier League and Champions League successes.
Yet while there have been occasional barbs, on the whole Guardiola and Klopp's relationship has been considerably less fiery than other leading Premier League managers that have gone before them.
As the former Barcelona coach and his players prepare to welcome Liverpool onto the pitch on Thursday night with a guard of honour in recognition of their title win, Guardiola spoke about why he respects his counterpart.
"First, as a human being. I don’t know him that well, we had dinner together once but not much, but I admire him," he said.
"The type of football that his teams in Liverpool and Dortmund always produce is a benefit for world football. It is a positive thing to try and always score goals and this kind of manager helps a lot. Jurgen is a big, big example for this.
"He wants to win and I want to win but when it is finished the game is over, it is done. He is my colleague and after my career I want to have a good relationship with all the managers. We are not close every day in touch but the relationship has to be there.
"There are many people watching us and we represent our clubs and with the amount of press conferences we do every week we are an important image for our clubs. We have to show this for the benefit of the institution, in this case Manchester City."
