Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola: How two coaches learned from and improved each other ahead of final showdown

"We have bows and arrows. And when we aim precisely, we can hit the target. It is only that Bayern have a bazooka. The probability that they will hit the target is clearly higher. But then, Robin Hood was apparently quite successful."

Those were the words of Jurgen Klopp back in the summer of 2013. His Borussia Dortmund team had just lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich at Wembley having relinquished their Bundesliga title too. Star player Mario Gotze had been snaffled.

And Pep Guardiola had just turned up in Munich.

The rivalry between Klopp and Guardiola, perhaps the two greatest coaches of their era, was born in Germany but it became legendary in England.

It was Klopp who won their first meeting shortly after that Robin Hood allusion - a 4-2 Super Cup win in Dortmund. But he continues to style himself as the underdog in this illustrious scrap and with good reason given Manchester City's financial might.

And yet, this is a balanced rivalry in its own way. Guardiola may have won more trophies but Klopp has still won the lot with Liverpool.

Moreover, he has a winning record in 29 matches against Guardiola - 12 wins to 11 going into what could prove to be a title decider at Anfield on Sunday. Of the 24 coaches to have faced Guardiola eight times or more, he is the only one who can claim that.

As the pair prepare to face off for what could be the final time, in a match that the Man City boss hopes will square the record, it is tempting to see the two as opposites. Both brilliant but with their own unique vision of how this great game should be played.

There is some basis to that, particularly in the early part of their careers.

Guardiola, though proudly Catalonian, came to symbolise the Spanish school with his emphasis