"It was a joy to watch him" - Guardiola lavishes praise on rival Ronaldo

Guardiola and Ronaldo have been facing off since they first met in the Champions League final in 2009, and are set to go head to head again for the 18th time in Sunday's Manchester derby.

Guardiola won on that first occasion when Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in Rome to lift the European Cup, but it wasn't long before things got even more heated.

That match was Ronaldo's final game for United, joining Real Madrid for a world record £80million weeks later, going on to face fierce rivals Barcelona in a number of gigantic clashes.

Ronaldo even sparked a heated melee during a 5-0 loss at the Camp Nou in 2010, shoving Guardiola on the touchline as he went to claim the ball for a throw-in.

However, despite coming up against each other on either side of football's two biggest rivalries - El Clasico and the Manchester derby - the respect remains, at least from Guardiola's perspective.

"He's been one of the greatest in the last 15 years, alongside [Lionel] Messi," the Spaniard said. "What these two guys have done, we're not going to see again.

"When you achieve these things, under scrutiny every second of your life and today, even more now with social media.

"As a finisher he's exceptional, I'm not going to disguise it was a joy to watch him these years."

Despite City being in a very different place to rivals United, Guardiola has still insisted that a special plan will need to be put in place to halt the Portuguese marksman.

"We have to explode our game, our strength to avoid Cristiano close to the box, because there he is almost unstoppable," Guardiola explained.

"I remember when we played there and we were winning 1-0 and in control, perfect, perfect, and then the first time arrived he made a chance and Eddy [Ederson Moraes] made an incredible save.

"He hadn't touched the ball but nearly scored. That is the quality and ability that he has.

"We have to control him. When you are one of the greatest that he was in terms of being a goalscoring machine, you will always be there.

"He is so strong mentally. He handled pressure without a problem because he lived with expectation through his career and always responded in a positive way."