Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been described as "one of the most successful coaches in sports history" by Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic ahead of their FA Cup fifth-round tie at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Guardiola has won a total of 39 trophies across his illustrious 17-year managerial career in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Man City, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest football coaches of all time.
The 54-year-old has successfully steered the Citizens to 18 trophies during his glittering nine-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, including six Premier League titles, one Champions League and two FA Cups.
This season, Guardiola has arguably endured his most challenging campaign as a manager, with the Catalan losing a total of 14 games across all competitions, more than any other previous season in his entire career.
After winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title last season, Man City now sit a staggering 20 points behind leaders Liverpool and are prioritising a top-four finish, as well as success in the FA Cup, their only remaining hope of lifting silverware having already been knocked out of the EFL Cup and Champions League.
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Muslic: 'Guardiola is a huge role model for every single coach in the world'
Despite experiencing what has been a turbulent campaign to say the least in the Man City dugout, Guardiola has received plenty of praise from Saturday's opposite number Muslic, who replaced Wayne Rooney as Plymouth boss last month and is now looking forward to the "biggest honour" of his life.
Speaking about Guardiola to BBC Radio Devon ahead of Saturday's clash, Muslic said: "I think he's a giant in our sport, a giant as a coach.
"I think he's one of the most successful coaches in sports history, one of the most successful coaches in football history.
"It's the biggest honour in my life, in my career as a coach, so I'm very much looking forward to shaking his hand and telling him that he's a giant of our sport and a huge, huge role model for every single coach in the world."
In responded to Muslic's kind words, Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday: "I have an incredible bottle of wine after the game for his words! I appreciate it, thank you very much."
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Guardiola "expecting a difficult game" against Plymouth
Although Plymouth themselves have struggled this season and currently sit three points adrift of safety in the Championship, Guardiola is not taking the Pilgrims lightly as they have already beaten Premier League sides Brentford and Liverpool - both by 1-0 scorelines - to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Asked if Plymouth were 'unknown' to him at his press conference, Guardiola said: "No, they are not unknown. When you can beat the best team in the country this season Liverpool - and also Brentford - they are not unknown.
"And not just Liverpool. I saw [some of their] other games. They defend aggressively with their wing-backs. The transition they do with attacking midfielders inside, who link really well.
"With the strikers in Championship, the set pieces are the main thing, and the Premier League teams learn from this. The amount of free kicks and corners they produce are not like the Premier League. They are solid. Since the manager took over, the results are there."
"We are expecting a difficult game," Guardiola added. "We play at home, and that is an advantage, the [Leyton] Orient game (a 2-1 fourth-round win for City) was so tough. We played many times in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup against lower league teams and always they are tricky.
"What these teams do, they do really well, and if you are not ready you are in trouble. We have a chance to arrive in the last eight of the FA Cup again and we want to do it."
Meanwhile, Guardiola has delivered a fresh injury update on Oscar Bobb, who has been sidelined since August last year but is making progress in his recovery.
Man City will lock horns with Plymouth for the first time in any competition since February 1989 when they won 2-0 at Maine Road in the second tier.
Oliver Thomas
