- Ex-Liverpool academy coach Rodolfo Borrell is now on staff at Manchester City
- Borrell worked at Anfield between 2009 and 2013 before leaving for the Etihad
- He will try and end Pep Guardiola’s Anfield hoodoo in the Champions League
Pep Guardiola will benefit from some crucial inside knowledge ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League clash with Liverpool on Wednesday thanks to a former Reds academy boss.
Rodolfo Borrell served as a Liverpool academy coach for four-and-a-half years before being axed by the Anfield club in November 2013.
He joined City in March 2014 as international technical director, working on relations between the Manchester club and their partner teams abroad, including New York City FC in MLS and Melbourne City in the Australian A-League.
Ex-Liverpool academy coach Rodolfo Borrell speaks to Pep Guardiola at Anfield on Tuesday
Borrell is now a first team coach at City, having worked at Liverpool between 2009 and 2013
Guardiola will look to dig out some inside knowledge ahead of their Champions League clash
He then became an academy coach, working with City’s youth teams from under-9s to under-21s, before being brought into the first team coaching staff by Guardiola when he became manager in 2016.
Borrell’s current and former clubs now do battle in the Champions League quarter finals, and Guardiola seems keen to use this to his advantage.
Borrell was seen on the pitch at Anfield on Tuesday as City trained at the stadium where the first leg takes place, in conversation with Guardiola and his assistant, Mikel Arteta.
City have lost both their games at Anfield since Guardiola became manager in 2016
He appeared to be acting as a stadium guide, pointing out The Kop and other areas of interest to Guardiola.
Guardiola will be hoping Borrell can improve his fortunes at Anfield, with City losing both games played there so far under his management.
They lost 1-0 on New Year’s Eve 2016 in Guardiola’s first season, before being beaten 4-3 – their only league loss so far this campaign – in January this year.
Borrell was brought to Liverpool by Rafa Benitez in 2009, having spent 13 years with La Liga giants Barcelona, where he helped develop the likes of Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas – and got to know former Barca boss Guardiola.
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