Pep Guardiola
believes Jurgen Klopp has improved as a manager due to his rivalry with his Liverpool counterpart.
On Sunday, Man City and Liverpool will meet at Anfield, where Liverpool leads the Premier League.
Four times in the past four years, City has only missed out on a title once which Liverpool won.
"Since I arrived here - maybe not the first year - Liverpool were always there," said Guardiola.
Klopp is Guardiola's only opponent against whom he has lost more games than any other.
However,
with Man City's latest squad reinforcement of recruiting Jack Grealish,
Pep still believed Klopp's team will always remain a top challenger and
changer to him.
"Jurgen Klopp's teams helped me to be a better manager,"said Guardiola, whose side go into the game against Liverpool after a league win over Chelsea and Champions League group game defeat by Paris St-Germain.
"He put me at another level, to think about it, to prove myself, to be a better manager. That is the reason why I am still in this business.
"The last four years, all the time, we were both there. It's the biggest compliment that both clubs were there.
"But in the Premier League there are not just one or two, there are many teams who can fight for the league."
When
the two teams last met at Anfield, Liverpool was beaten 4-1, and Klopp
will have it in mind that his side has to perform at their highest
level.
"This is a really special game every year. You have to be your best version, and only then, you have a chance," he said.
"We have to play a proper football game to have a chance but it's Anfield. We are really looking forward to it.
"They [City] are probably the best team in Europe at the moment. Last weekend they played Chelsea and everyone was talking about how good they [Chelsea] are, which they are, but City were clearly better that day.
"We have to win the game and score goals but we have to defend at the absolute highest level to stay in the game and make sure the goals we score make the difference."