I would not be at Manchester City without FC Barcelona – They gave me everything | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has credited FC Barcelona for everything that followed in his career beyond life at the Camp Nou.

The 53-year-old is currently preparing for his ninth season of management at the Etihad Stadium, where Guardiola has won 17 major trophies with Manchester City since his arrival in 2016, including lifting six Premier League titles in seven years and the UEFA Champions League.

Guardiola has taken charge of over 470 matches in east Manchester, with Manchester City the third club of the Catalan’s management career, following time at boyhood club Barcelona and Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

The Catalonian won 14 trophies during a glittering four-year spell as head coach at the Camp Nou between 2008 and 2012, including lifting the Champions League twice and three La Liga titles.

Guardiola’s side famously went unbeaten during his debut season, with the Manchester City manager also making 479 appearances over 12 seasons as a player for Barcelona between 1990 and 2001.

The 53-year-old is set to come up against his former club this week, with Barcelona beginning their pre-season campaign with a friendly against Manchester City at the Camping World Stadium in Florida on Tuesday.

Speaking this week to reporters ahead of a reunion with Barcelona in Orlando, albeit in a pre-season friendly, Guardiola was keen to explain the special feeling about facing his former club.

“Listen, it doesn’t matter that it’s a friendly game or an official game, Barcelona – for me personally, not for the club and for the team, it’s a game for the preparation – for me it has been and always will be so special,” Guardiola explained.

“I’m here thanks to Barcelona, otherwise I will not be here. They gave me everything, absolutely everything. It’s not just words to be nice to Catalunya, my former club. It’s just because it’s the truth.

“So always I will be grateful, what they gave to me, my formation as a person, as a football player, and after I was lucky starting to be a ballboy and after being a manager. What I am would not be possible without what Barcelona gave to me.”

The meeting with the La Liga club will be Manchester City’s penultimate match of a four-match tour of the United States, with the Sky Blues having suffered marginal defeats to both Celtic and AC Milan during their opening two matches.

Manchester City lost 2-3 to AC Milan at the Yankee Stadium in New York City over the weekend, and also lost 3-4 to Celtic at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in North Carolina earlier this month.