Pep Guardiola Hasn't 'Reached A European Final Without Messi, Klopp Has Won One With Origi,' Says Eni Aluko

Eni Aluko has made a bold claim that Pep Guardiola must lift the Champions League title with Manchester City to be considered an all-time great.

The 48-year-old Spaniard hasn't won Europe's top-tier club competition since he captured the trophy twice with Barcelona in the 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons.

Juventus forward Aluko, 32, believes that Guardiola's failure to reach the final without Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi could see him snubbed in the conversation for all-time greats.

And the former England international took a shot at the former Barcelona boss by saying that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp managed to win the trophy with Divock Origi last season.

"Guardiola has never got to a European final without Lionel Messi, whereas Klopp has won one with Divock Origi," she wrote in her column for the Guardian.

"Guardiola's Barcelona side won the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in 2008-09, something no other manager had done, but Luis Enrique repeated the feat in 2014-15 and nobody has him down as one of the all-time greats.

"Jose Mourinho won the Champions League with Porto and Internazionale and eight league titles in four countries, yet he seems to be disregarded as an old‑school manager with outdated ideas."

Guardiola, who is one of the most successful trophy-winning managers in history, has failed to progress past the quarter-final stages of the competition with City so far.

And the former Bayern Munich boss claimed only last month that his side were not ready to win UEFA's coveted prize this season.

Aluko also slammed Guardiola by insisting that he has never been tested as a manager and has inherited dominant squads when he arrived at Bayern Munich, City and Barcelona.

She explained: "Guardiola [...] took over Barcelona when they had won the league in two of the previous four seasons, Bayern Munich when they were reigning champions, and Manchester City when they had been champions in two of the five previous seasons and had unrivalled spending power."