Pep Guardiola is a ‘genius’ but Norwich City head coach Daniel Farke still wants the bragging rights against his Manchester City pal.

The Canaries’ stunned Guardiola’s superstars at Carrow Road two seasons ago, although they were thumped on the final day in the corresponding Premier League fixture.

Norwich return to the home of the champions on Saturday bidding to cause another shock. Guardiola publicly revealed the warmth of his personal friendship with Farke last season, and the feeling is mutual.

“I don’t like to speak too much about our private situation, although Pep touched on it last season,” he said. “I don’t have a really good relationship with Pep Guardiola because he is the best coach in the world, it is because he is a fantastic human being.

"We discuss football, and that is great to have someone who knows what it means to work in such a responsible role in this business, but I can also speak to him about other things.

“I feel a bit embarrassed when I hear coaches speaking about how they have a great relationship with Pep, or with Jurgen (Klopp) or Jose (Mourinho). It feels like fishing for compliments and it doesn’t make me a top class coach.

"That is not important at all.

"What I can definitely say about him as a coach is he's the best. I think he's a legend, and the football community have that status for him.”

Guardiola built a dominant Barcelona side that re-defined the modern game, before the Catalan moved onto Bayern Munich and Manchester.

“No other coach in the last 15 years has influenced football more,” said Farke. “You always want to be a trendsetter but he was ahead of the wave. He has influenced the game in the last 15 years more than any other coach on this planet. He was playing with a false nine when many coaches did not know what it was about.

"He has cut well structured teams into pieces down the centre, when others said you must use the wings.

"He uses full backs like wingers. In the most physical league in the world he won titles with a possession-based side and many small and tiny technical players.

"He has changed his base formation from game to game and within the game eight or nine times. We can all try to be trendsetting coaches, but you have to be successful and he has won more titles than anyone else. He's a genius in what he's doing.”