Guardiola will be in Fergie's shadow even if he triumphs

“IT’S really sore,” joked Sir Alex Ferguson last month, as he presented the LMA Manager of the Year trophy, which bears his name, to Pep Guardiola.

- Dan Kilpatrick

And Ferguson might be even sorer by tomorrow night if Guardiola becomes the first manager in history to win the Treble twice, and the only other coach in English football to claim the three biggest trophies in a season after the Scot’s Manchester United in 1999.

If Guardiola’s Manchester City beat Inter in Istanbul, they will add the Champions League crown to the League title and FA Cup, a feat which will inevitably increase the comparisons between the Catalan and Ferguson, the two outstanding contenders as the greatest managers of the Premier League era.

Certainly, there are compelling comparisons between the pair, not least in that their success has been achieved in the same city, albeit on different sides of the tracks.

They have reigned in contrasting styles, with Ferguson perhaps the last old-school manager to rule over every aspect of a club and Guardiola focused principally on coaching, but some of their methods bear similarities.

They have, for example, both proven adept at refreshing their winning machines, knowing when to move on celebrated players — be it Roy Keane or Joao Cancelo — or innovate tactically in the relentless pursuit of success.