Rio Ferdinand says Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is “arguably the greatest” manager in European football history. The TNT Sports pundit made the comments after being presented with a list of coaches who have won the most games in the Champions League.

Following Tuesday’s night win against Red Star Belgrade, Guardiola has now drawn level with Sir Alex Ferguson with 102 victories in the competition. Carlo Ancelotti (107) is the only person to have won more games, with the likes of ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (82) and former Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho (77) trailing well behind. When asked about Guardiola’s achievement, Ferdinand said:

“I think his win percentage as well would be hugely impressive. I’d argue he’s arguably the greatest out of all of those guys on there.”

Considering he is a former Manchester United captain, who worked closely with Ferguson, it is some compliment that Ferdinand is paying to Guardiola.

His achievements as a manager go well beyond Champions League titles

Prior to City securing their first European Cup back in June, the fact that the Spaniard hadn’t won the trophy with the Citizens had been a stick that many critics used to beat him with.

Guardiola had also failed to win the competition with his previous club Bayern Munich but he had won it twice at Barcelona.

The gap between the second and third European Cups shouldn’t, however, cloud the number of matches he has won in the competition and the 20 domestic trophies he secured during that period.

Will Guardiola be remembered as the Greatest?

For City fans, there will be no debate about the 52-year-old’s stature in the game. He has been the most successful coach in the club’s history by a country mile.

Outside of the blue side of Manchester, though, even many rivals would agree that Guardiola has the CV that can be compared with the best managers the game has ever produced.

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