Man Utd v Man City: Jose Mourinho & Pep Guardiola play down rivalry
Man Utd v Man City: Jose Mourinho &
Pep Guardiola play down rivalry
By Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Manchester United play neighbours Manchester City at Old
Trafford on Saturday (12:30 BST) in one of the most eagerly anticipated
Manchester derbies for decades.
Both United and City have new 'super coaches' in Mourinho
and Guardiola respectively, and have started the Premier League season with
100% winning records.
The clubs spent heavily in a record-breaking summer
transfer window, withUnited
re-signing midfielder Paul Pogba for an £89m world record fee, and City
making John Stones the second most
expensive defender in history.at £47.5m.
Former Barcelona boss Guardiola suggested any personal
rivalry with ex-Real Madrid manager Mourinho was created "from the
media".
"We can't control that," added the Spaniard.
"I said it many times - I have a lot of respect for Mourinho. I always try
to learn from all of my colleagues - it's the same with him.
"He was my coach, my assistant coach with Sir Bobby
Robson. OK, the last period at Barcelona and Real Madrid was not easy for both
of us but we met each other two, three weeks ago at the managers' Premier
League meeting.
"Of course I'll accept a glass of wine after the
game if he invites me."
Portuguese Mourinho added: "I know what the derby
means. I've played them everywhere, but I always want to be in a position of
emotional control. If we want to win we have to be at the top.
"They have a very good manager. They always have
very good players and bought more. They are what they are since I returned to
England. They are a title contender and you have to respect them."
The fixture
Either United or City have been Premier League champions
for seven of the past 10 seasons.
Of the 171 previous Manchester derbies, United have won
71, City 49, with 51 drawn.
In 1973-74, the match at Maine Road, City's old ground,
had to be temporarily stopped because City's Mike Doyle and United's Lou Macari
refused to leave the pitch after being sent off. In the second derby of the
season, United legend Denis Law scored for City with a backheel as the Red
Devils were relegated from the top flight.
City did not win a game against their rivals for 13 years
from September 1989, but then signed off from Maine Road by beating Sir Alex Ferguson's
side 3-1.
More recently, City won 6-1 at Old Trafford in 2011, a
game during which Mario Balotelli revealed his 'Why Always Me?' T-shirt after
scoring.
Marcus Rashford's winner for United at
Etihad Stadium was the only Manchester derby goal last season.
Mourinho, a former PE teacher turned translator, worked
his way up the coaching rungs and had won the Champions League with Porto and
domestic titles in three different countries by the time the Barcelona
manager's job became available in 2008.
Instead, Barca promoted Pep Guardiola into his first
managerial job and Spanish football expert Graham Hunter says Mourinho's
"bitterness at having something exceptional taken away from him" cost
him "too much".
"Mourinho's dream was to go back to Barcelona as the
number one and he planned to unveil Guardiola as his number two," explains
Spanish football writer Pete Jenson. "Not only does he not get the job,
but the guy he was having as a number two gets it instead.
"It became Mourinho's mission after that to prove to
Barcelona what they never had, and make them sorry."
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