Pep Guardiola has snubbed Manchester United on derby day to an unprecedented degree by saying that the Red Devils are not his team’s main adversary.

The Reds have fallen from grace spectacularly and are once again mired in the middle of the table, while Guardiola has made City the dominant power in Europe.

When Sir аlex Fergusоn’s Mаnchester United were the оnly cоnsistent winners in tоwn, the Blues were never even cоnsidered а threаt.

Even if Guаrdiоlа аgreed with Fergusоn’s аssessment, he implied thаt in his eight yeаrs аt the Etihаd, he hаd never cоnsidered United tо be а reаl threаt.

When Guardiola leaves, he and his team will no longer have “rivals” in Liverpool. The difficulty they’ve added to our work has made us a stronger unit as a whole.

They’ve presented us with a greater test than any other squad I’ve faced throughout my time here.

Overall, Liverpool has been the best team, however “one year with Ole [Gunnar] Solskjaer was quite close.”

The Blues were relegated to League One and lasted 35 years without winning a trophy while Ferguson’s United won 13 Premier League crowns and two Champions Leagues.

Guardiola also stated, “Sir Alex was right, City were not challengers. United and Arsenal were the two richest teams in the league before (owner) Sheikh Mansour and (chairman) Khaldoon came over and invested.