Ahead of his 1,000th game in management, Pep Guardiola describes his career achievements as "insane". The milestone comes as Manchester City prepare to host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

Since taking charge of Barcelona B in 2007, Guardiola has secured 715 victories across all competitions. His managerial career includes 12 top-flight titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City, and three Champions League titles. He has faced only 128 defeats and won 14 cup competitions during his outstanding career.

When asked by BBC Sport about his win count, Guardiola responded, "Of course I know, a lot. The numbers are insane, I'm sorry to tell you.

"I'm not thinking how many but when you have the milestones and you read what you have done, the victories, the average, not just in Premier League but in the Champions League too, we have won incredible things in Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here.

"It is difficult to reach and if I start again I would not reach it, it is too much games. A few defeats, comparing 1000 games and hopefully on Sunday I hope we can continue."

Guardiola is credited with revolutionizing English football with his distinctive style, which has influenced numerous managers nationwide. His accomplishments at City are remarkable, including leading the team to become the first to reach 100 points in a league season, achieve a domestic treble, and secure four consecutive league titles.

Guardiola commented, "It looks like I have false humility but this amount of percentage, beyond 70% of victories - [it means] every ten games we win seven and will draw one or two.

"It can happen because you are at Barcelona, Munich and City with the players I have. After that, it is a lot of hard work. Dedication, passion, love - in that nobody beat [can] me.

"I love to scrutinise the secrets of what you can do to opponents, convince the players and go in together. All the times the players follow me. All the time."

When asked about being considered the greatest manager of all time, Guardiola responded with a smile, "They are completely right!

"The influence of every manager has been through history. Of course, I can say I've been part of that because the numbers explain, I've had success and it's been nice to watch my teams.

"So I'm there. But I never started thinking 'I want to be the best'."

The Spaniard was inducted into the League Managers Association's hall of fame for reaching the milestone, with ex-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson saying the longevity in achieving the landmark "can never be underestimated".

On Sunday, Guardiola and City face a Liverpool side, a rivalry that has seen either team win the Premier League in each of the last eight seasons.

"I think we pushed Liverpool to be better and they pushed us to be better, for sure," said Guardiola. "If I had to choose one rival for this personal milestone – I want to share it with many, many people - that would be the best.

"Because I have been in this country longer than ever, Barcelona the impact in my life as a ballboy, football player and manager was obvious and Bayern were an incredible step as well."

With 10 losses, the Reds - along with Tottenham - are the side Guardiola has suffered the most defeats against and he has heaped praise on the opponents for pushing him to be the best and also credited former boss Jurgen Klopp. The German is the manager he has faced the most number of times during his career (31) and also beating Guardiola on the most occasions (11).

"Liverpool, especially with Jurgen, have been the biggest rival in this country," he added. "It could not be better, to be honest. The universe decide that. It's nice to live it at our best.

"What happened with the Jurgen period means this has been the biggest because maybe after the first season the Premier League was between us and them.

"Always I enjoyed this healthy rivalry. I always had the feeling of how much we respected each other. Jurgen gave me a lot and I miss him. He gave me a lot in terms of how much I had to do to try and beat him."