8ljj`\j _Xm\ cXjk cXl^_
PEP BENEFITS FROM NEW PEACE PACT
Pep I end up with 10 men. It must be some sort of UEFA rule.”
Perhaps the lowest point in their feud came when Mourinho sparked ugly scenes in the Nou Camp by poking Guardiola’s assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye during a melee on the touchline during a ‘Classico’ Spanish Super Cup clash in 2011.
Guardiola had seen enough and at the end of that season announced he was quitting Barca to take a sabbatical in New York.
Mourinho couldn’t resist a parting shot when he said: “It’s his life, but for me it’s unthinkable to take a sabbatical. He is younger than me but I’m not tired.”
He might not have been back then, but fast forward to 2017 and all the signs suggest Mourinho has lost his appetite for picking a fight with Guardiola.
When the two were reunited in Manchester in the summer of 2016, English football braced itself for another turf war. The anticipation was palpable. Was Manchester big enough for the both of them?
But, 18 months on, there hasn’t been a single verbal punch thrown in anger from Mourinho.
‘The Special One’ has stopped short of inviting Guardiola round for dinner at his luxurious penthouse at the Lowry Hotel.
But the duo appear to have formed a secret pact that is now seeing them perform a modern-day version of the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour.
Quite frankly, the atmosphere is now as dull as the Manchester weather – and it suits Guardiola much more than it does Mourinho.
Guardiola is happy to let City’s glorious football do the talking and leave people to wonder if the fire in Mourinho’s belly has gone out.
Charging
Perhaps Mourinho has grown up, matured and learned from his mistakes. Who knows?
But what we do know is that Guardiola is winning the battle on the pitch hands down heading into Sunday’s derby between the top two in the Premier League at Old Trafford.
Mourinho needs to do something to stop the light-blue juggernaut from charging towards the title.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and Mourinho needs to turn back the clock and consider using some of his old tricks if he wants to improve United’s chances of silencing those across town. It might well be his best – and only – option.