PEP GUARDIOLA has been told he still has a lot to prove in the Premier League before he can be considered in the same managerial breath as Jose Mourinho.

Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka, a close friend and former assistant of Mourinho’s, will be looking to put the blocks on Guardiola’s attempts to guide Manchester City to FA Cup glory this season later today.

Boro will face City in the quarter-final at the Riverside for the right to play in a Wembley semi-final and it provides the Teessiders with an opportunity to put a smile back on fans’ and players’ faces.

But Manchester City’s expensively assembled squad will provide tough opposition even if Guardiola’s first season in England has not gone as smoothly as expected.

City are ten points behind leaders Chelsea in the league with 11 matches remaining so the Spaniard needs something spectacular to celebrate a title success in his maiden campaign over here.

Even though Manchester City are seven points clear of Manchester United, Karanka is pretty clear who he regards as the best in the world.

Asked if Guardiola is the top man, Karanka replied: “No, the best coach in the world is Jose Mourinho. He has shown it at Porto, at Inter Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United. He was the best [in Spain] and he still is the best.

“I’ve never worked with Pep. Jose started this season with some criticism, but he has already won two trophies for Man United. Jose is the best for me.”

Mourinho started life at Manchester United by winning the Community Shield in August and followed that up by winning the EFL Cup last month. Guardiola will send out a strong team at the Riverside in the hope of winning a trophy himself.

Karanka said: “I think he needs to win something. He has shown he can win titles in Spain with Barcelona and with Bayern Munich in Germany and he probably thought he would do the same in England. But now I think he has realised that this is a different football, a different league, he has realised how difficult the challenge is.

“He has taken over at clubs who were already very strong. The coach’s life is always about challenges and if I can speak about me, I always wanted challenges as a player and I wanted challenges as a coach.

“It’s difficult when you arrive in a new country, with a new philosophy, a lot of things are difficult. He has some very good players, but the mentality here is different, the players are different and it takes time to adjust.”

Karanka plans to open a bottle of Cava for Guardiola this afternoon and played down any clash after Middlesbrough claimed a point at the Etihad earlier in the campaign. Guardiola suggested he was frustrated by Middlesbrough’s approach that day.

The Middlesbrough boss said: “We don’t have a relationship. I played against him when he was at Barcelona and I was at Real Madrid, and I was with Jose at Madrid when he was manager of Barcelona. I don’t have a relationship with him, I never played with him in the national team either, but I know how good he is as a coach.

“He was very frustrated, a team like City dropping two points against a newly promoted team like Middlesbrough, it was difficult for him, but it’s part of football. He has to accept that and he has to keep going forward.”