Bayern Munich manager Julian Naglesmann labelled Pep Guardiola "the best" ahead of Bayern Munich's pre-season friendly against Manchester City.
The Blues take on the Bundesliga champions in their second game of their pre-season tour of the United States and fans might well get their first glimpse of Erling Haaland in a City shirt. Kevin De Bruyne grabbed the headlines after their first pre-season victory over Club America, with the Belgian scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over their Mexican opposition.
Attention has now turned to a match against a far more formidable opponent in the form of German champions Bayern Munich. Bayern have won the last ten Bundesliga titles in a row and have been in good form during their pre-season tour so far - they beat MLS side DC United 6-2 in their last match thanks to goals from Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.
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Ahead of the match, the Bayern Munich manager spoke to the press and was in complimentary mood when he was asked for his thoughts on this Manchester City side.
Nagelsmann said: "Impressive, spent a lot of money but did it clever, that’s most important. Money is not the only solution, you need money - but good ideas, brilliant manager in Pep, sporting director, impressive infrastructure, stadium, decisions made in last five years are impressive and that’s why they are one of the top clubs in Europe at the moment."
The German was then asked for his thoughts on Guardiola who won the league three times in a row with Bayern, including two domestic doubles.
He said: "I watched a lot of games when I was a really young manager, he played a new way, counter pressing - the most impressive part was the counter pressing. [Teams] didn’t have time to breathe when [they] got the ball. I think when you are a young manager you try to watch all the games and try to recognise things you can do – but find your own way of thinking but also get some ideas from the best."
The 35-year-old manager was then asked about Erling Haaland and the tactical adjustments that may come when signing a striker of his calibre. Although not overly forthcoming, he did offer his opinion on how the Norwegian would best fit into Guardiola's side, saying they were "perhaps better with classic number 9 as they’ve not had one [for] two years".
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