Last month, Sir Alex Ferguson made fun of his soreness when handing Pep Guardiola the LMA Manager of the Year award, which carries his name.
A PROPOSAL FROM MANCHESTER CITY TO FINISH THE TREBLE
And if Guardiola wins the Treble twice and is the only other manager in English football to win the three major trophies in a season after the Scot's Manchester United in 1999, Ferguson would be even more upset by tomorrow night.
The parallels between Guardiola and Ferguson, the two leading contenders for the title of best Premier League manager of all time, will unavoidably grow if Guardiola's Manchester City defeat Inter in Istanbul and win the Champions League in addition to the League championship and FA Cup.
There are undoubtedly interesting parallels between the two, not the least of which is the fact that they both found success in the same city, although on opposing sides of the tracks.
Guardiola was mostly focused on teaching, whereas Ferguson may have been the last traditional manager to have control over every facet of a team. Despite this, some of their approaches are comparable.
For instance, both of them have demonstrated a skill for updating their winning systems, recognizing when to let go of legendary players like Roy Keane or Joao Cancelo or to invent new strategies in their unrelenting quest for victory.
Ferguson may refer to the manner he built up United (and Aberdeen, for that matter) from the ground up rather than inheriting great sides as Guardiola has always done, even if Guardiola clearly has the advantage in terms of the sheer effect of his ideas on the game.
Ferguson and United initially won the Premier League in 1992–1993, but it took them six more years and three more domestic championships to defeat Bayern Munich and complete the Triple.
Similarly, Guardiola's City have won five of the seven League championships since he arrived in England, but he has yet to win the Champions League. They both feel frustrated by Manchester City's lack of success in Europe, but Guardiola still has time to guarantee that tomorrow is only the beginning for City.
Given that United won 13 League championships during that time span while Guardiola's City consistently underperformed on the continent, Ferguson has always believed that the club's two European Cups during his 26 years at the club were insufficient.
Even if losing to Inter would be the biggest shock ever, Guardiola can look back on each of City's departures over the last six years with sorrow, including knockout losses to Monaco, Tottenham, and Lyon in which his team was a heavy favorite. Guardiola would undoubtedly surpass Ferguson if he went on to dominate both domestically and in Europe, but it's necessary to take the bigger picture into account as well.
Ferguson may have frequently outspent many of his local competitors financially, but Guardiola has access to an unrivaled infrastructure that Abu Dhabi's government has constructed and supported.
While everyone is aware of the threat to Ferguson's 1999 European triumph, particularly United's dramatic comeback victory over Bayern, there has long been a numbing feeling of inevitability around Guardiola's City's eventual possession of the Champions League.
This season, they have completely dominated not just English but also European football, as evidenced by their 4-0 victory over the defending champion Real Madrid (in comparison, United had to come back from two goals behind to defeat Juventus in a thrilling semi-final in 1999).
Guardiola and the influence of teams supported by the government both contribute to this supremacy. They will eventually succeed if they are conducted coherently.
Given the nature of their support and the Premier League charges that follow them, it is difficult to avoid the impression that City's wins under Guardiola will always come with limitations, maybe even a huge asterisk next to their accomplishments, unlike Ferguson's United.
If Guardiola succeeds in making City eternal tomorrow, those factors will seem insignificant compared to his brilliance, and in time, he is likely to have a trophy for managerial greatness bearing his name.
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