Pep Guardiola has joked he will sleep better next season knowing Jurgen Klopp will not be a main rival - but claims the Liverpool manager will be back at the highest level soon.
Klopp made a bombshell announcement on Friday that he is set to leave the Merseyside club at the end of the season after eight and a half years in charge - having won every top-level competition available to him at Anfield.
Guardiola's Manchester City have still dominated the Premier League with victories in four triumphs over the last five seasons - with Liverpool's 2020 title win the only blot on the treble winners' record.
Asked if Guardiola will miss Klopp next season, the City manager replied: "I will sleep better. The games against Liverpool have almost been a nightmare. Of course he will be missed. I was shocked like everyone. I felt listening to the news that a part of Man City will lose something.
"We cannot define our period together here without him. We cannot define our period without Liverpool. It's impossible. They've been our biggest rival and personally he's been the best rival I've ever had in my life.
