The wait for one of the biggest match of this year is coming to an end this Saturday. It's a clash of titans as both the Manchester clubs go head to head for bragging rights, three points and most importantly making a statement early in the league. After spending more than £150 million each this summer, both the clubs are the title favourites for Premier League this campaign.
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The entire footballing world will keep an eye on the managers' duo of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho as they renew their rivalry in England. Both the managers have a long history as they were on good terms when both were at Barcelona but since Mourinho joined Madrid, this relationship turned sour.
The Manchester derby will be the next chapter in their rivalry since the Champions League tie between Inter and Barcelona and the eye poking incident in the El Clasico.
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Along with the giants of the game who will be on display at Old Trafford on Saturday, the main focus will be on the two managers who, the world knows by now that don't get along well. Let's take a look at the quotes from the two friends turned foes about each other:
Jose Mourinho on Pep Guardiola :
1. On the infamous Champions League semifinal between Barcelona and Chelsea
“A year ago Chelsea were crying and Barca were laughing with the referee. They laughed because he denied my Chelsea boys their rightful place.”
2. After Guardiola moaned about Pedro's goal being ruled offside in a Copa Del Rey tie
“Up until now there was a very small group of coaches who didn't talk about referees and a larger group who did. Now, with Pep's comments, we have started a new era with a third group, featuring only one person, a man who criticises the referee when he makes good decisions. This is completely new to me.”
3. When Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-0 in Champions League semifinal
“One day, I would like Josep Guardiola to win this competition properly. If I tell UEFA what I really think and feel, my career would end now. Instead I will just ask a question to which I hope one day to get a response: Why? Why Ovrebo? Why Busacca? Why De Bleeckere? Why Stark? Why? Because every semi-final the same things happen. We are talking about an absolutely fantastic football team, so why do they need that? Why?
“Why does a team as good as they are need something [extra] that is so obvious that everyone sees it? I don't know if it is the UNICEF sponsorship or if it is because they are nice guys. I don't understand. They have power and we have no chance. All I can do is leave that question here in the air and hope that one day I will get the response.
“They have to get to the final, and they'll get there, full stop. Josep Guardiola is a fantastic coach. But I have won two Champions Leagues and he has won only one Champions League - and that is one that would embarrass me.
“I would be ashamed to have won it with the scandal of Stamford Bridge. If he wins it this year, it will be with the scandal of the Bernabeu. Deep down, if they are good people, it cannot taste right for them. I hope one day Guardiola has the chance of winning a brilliant, clean championship with no scandal.”
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4. About Barcelona's simulation and play acting
“I'm not going to say we're happy because we didn't win the Spanish Super Cup, that would be hypocritical of me. But we intended to play like men and not fall on the ground at the slightest touch. I have been taught to play like a man and not to fall first.”
5. On Guardiola taking a one-year sabbatical before joining Bayern Munich
“It's his life, but for me it's unthinkable to take a sabbatical. He is younger than me, but I'm not tired.”
6. After Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup final
“The best team clearly lost. They just scored one more penalty.”
7. On Referee decisions when his team plays against Pep's team
“Every time I play Pep I end up with 10 men. It must be some sort of UEFA rule.”
8. When asked a question about their similar traits
“There are people, much more intelligent than me, who manage to sell an image of themselves, completely different to mine, but deep down they are the same as me.”
9. When he was showed a picture of two during their time at Barcelona
“Yes, I still have a photo of that embrace. We were close.”
10. On why the rivalry in Premier League will be less intense than in La Liga
“My experience does not allow me to be naive. I was in Spain for two years, where the champion would be me or him. There, individual battles make more sense because they can affect the outcome of the title race.
“If in the Premier League I were to focus on him and Manchester City and he were to focus on me and Manchester United, someone else would be champion. The level of the Premier League is going to get better with the players and coaches who will come.
“Four champions in four years shows how competitive it is, and also says a lot about the television rights and its distribution, which will allow the growth of the league and all its teams. It is different to other leagues where the sharks will always be sharks.”
Pep Guardiola on Jose Mourinho
1. On why he didn't reply to Mourinho's attacks on him
“I know Mourinho and he's trying to provoke me into a reaction, but it won't work. I'm not going to react. I'm not going to answer back. Only when I think the time is right.”
2. He finally broke his silence ahead of the Champions League semifinal in 2011
“As senor Mourinho has called me Pep, I'm going to call him Jose. Tomorrow at 8.45pm we will face each other on the pitch. Off the pitch he's won. He's been winning off the pitch all season. Let them give him a Champions League for it so he can enjoy it and take it home.
“In the press room he is 'el p*** jefe' (the ******* boss) and the one who knows more than everyone else. I would only remind him that we were together, he and I, for four years. He knows me and I know him. That's enough for me.
“If he prefers to value the views of the journalist friends who take their information in a drip feed from Florentino Pérez more than the relationship we had for four years then that's his choice. I try to learn from Jose on the pitch, but I prefer to learn as little as possible from him off the pitch.”
3. When asked about working together under Sir Bobby Robson
“We would exchange ideas. It was a friendship, well a working relationship.”
4. On asked about their relationship
“With Mourinho, so many things happened. So many things.”
5. Guardiola gave a smart reply when asked about the similarities between the two managers
“If that's true, I will have to revise my behaviour.”
6. On renewing the rivalry in Premier League
“I think Jose said it pretty well. It's not about him or me. Whatever you saw from the distance doesn’t matter, we played many times against each other and I know him well.
