Unai Emery calls Pep Guardiola football management's 'only genius'

Unai Emery has paid tribute to Pep Guardiola describing the departing Manchester City boss as the “only genius” among football managers.

The two Spaniards will meet again on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium as Villa take on City in Guardiola’s final match in charge.

His exit from City after 10 years and 17 major trophies was confirmed on Friday morning.

Emery, who repeated his previous belief Guardiola is the best coach in the world, described it as an “honour” to compete against him.

The pair first locked horns when the now Villa boss was in charge of Valencia and Guardiola was with Barcelona in 2009.

Emery said: “Four years in a row, we were competing, Barcelona and Valencia. It was his best moment in Barcelona.

“Amazing how they were playing, his impact was crazy good, and we were always finishing third.

“And I didn’t beat him. Valencia didn’t beat Barcelona, Unai Emery didn’t beat Guardiola, and they were asking me in the press conference, ‘you can’t beat Guardiola?’.

“And I was answering, ‘if I am keeping for a long time, my position here, to face him is really being fantastic’. And now, on Sunday, I’m going to play against him.

“It’s my honour, my pleasure, because he’s the best coach in the world. Clearly, he’s a huge inspiration for other coaches. The only genius is him.”

Emery, who beat Guardiola for the first time as Villa boss in 2023, explained how he learned to better understand his rival through watching City’s behind-the-scenes documentary on Amazon.

Praising Guardiola’s humility, he also explained how he now looks forward to their conversations after matches.

“And for me, it’s a huge respect, a huge pleasure, always when I am facing him, and I can take a small conversation,” he said.

“The best conversation I had here with him, always was the last matches we played together, here with Aston Villa and Manchester City.

“It was a very interesting conversation about how we were both understanding football and understanding the competitive way we are, and the respect as well.

“I started competing with him and having some conversations 20 years ago, and now getting mature, getting more experiences, I like to speak with him five minutes and speak about everything.”

Emery, meanwhile, joked it will be “not easy” to prepare his team for a match which ranks as the club’s most meaningless for two years.

Celebrations which began in Istanbul on Wednesday night, stretched through to the early hours of Friday morning in Birmingham.

Players will return to training on Saturday, with Emery due to make a decision on his travelling squad after that session.

The manager acknowledged it will be tough to bring players back down to earth after a week which saw them secure a top-five Premier League place and win the Champions League.

He smiled: “I will try to be serious. I will try to get the best starting 11 players and be focused on respecting the competition, but it’s not easy. Sorry, but it’s not easy!”