Manchester managers’ showdown
AFTER the phoney war of their first season in Manchester, the rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will resume for real in Sunday’s seismic derby showdown at Old Trafford.
The two managers renewed acquaintances at the beginning of last season after Mourinho took the reins at Manchester United and Guardiola set up shop across town at Manchester City.
Guardiola claimed first blood, leading City to a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in September last year, but both teams fell by the wayside thereafter, finishing the campaign well adrift of Premier League champions Chelsea.
Fifteen games into the new season, City are eight points clear of United at the head of the table and Sunday’s game is being billed as Mourinho’s big chance to stick a spoke in Guardiola’s wheels.
“We have a big week, with Swansea and Tottenham following the United game,” City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne said.
“If we lost two out of three and they win everything, they are there.”
The arrival in Manchester of the two preeminent managers of the age stoked the embers of a bitter personal rivalry that had crackled with blistering intensity during their two years in opposing camps in Spain.
In September last year, the men’s reunion promised much, Guardiola’s slick City wiping the floor with United in the first half before a Claudio Bravo blunder enabled Zlatan Ibrahimovic to make a game of it in the second. But by the time of their most recent meeting, at the Etihad Stadium in April, thoughts of an all-Manchester title shootout had vanished.
A grim 0-0 draw left both teams locked in a battle for fourth place as Antonio Conte’s Chelsea streaked towards glory.
City eventually finished third as United trailed home in sixth place, but Mourinho could reflect on the season with greater satisfaction after leading his team to a League Cup and Europa League double.
Seven months on, City look almost transcendent, their sublime and devastatingly effective possession football reminiscent of Guardiola’s great Barcelona team.
Recent results, however, give United reason for optimism. While City have had to grind out wins, United have hit form.