Pep: Jose and I are good neighbours...
PEP Guardiola has hinted his once frosty relationship with Jose Mourinho has been thawed by them being neighbours in Manchester.
And the City boss even joked that they ‘high five’ each other when they meet in the street!
The two men developed a bitter rivalry when Guardiola coached Barcelona and United boss Mourinho was in charge at their old enemy Real Madrid.
The Spanish press dubbed their antipathy ‘The Disease’ and the fear was that they would bring that bad feeling to Manchester and inflame passions on both sides of the Red-Blue divide.
But both men seem to have decided to bury the hatchet without ever being as friendly as they were when Mourinho was an interpreter at Barcelona.
They greeted each other warmly in the first derby of the season at Old Trafford, but Guardiola said their paths have not crossed socially, even though they live within a few hundred yards of each other in Salford. Guardiola is often spotted walking around the city centre with wife Cristina Serra, but he says he has not bumped into his old rival. “We are neighbours but no,” he said when asked if they had seen each other. And how is their relationship? “Good. When we see each other ... high five,” said Guardiola with a smile. The City boss also played down the significance of the derby, with both teams vying for a place in the top four, thus guaranteeing a place in next season’s Champions League. He said there would be no mental edge gained by whichever team won the game, but the three points are important. “Psychologically it is not important – sometimes you win, sometimes you lose against the good teams but it is an important three points to qualify for the Champions League,” he said. United will be without injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored the Reds’ goal in City’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford earlier in the season, but Guardiola said his absence presented other problems for the Blues.
“Of course they will be playing the last games without him but they achieve to play the way Jose Mourinho wants – they win a lot of duels between the players,” said Guardiola.
“Ibra is a great player but they also have lots of good players like Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Marcus Rashford, and they find spaces between the lines.
“They are good rivals, with good quality, in good form, and have a big series without defeat in the Premier League.
“I’m looking forward to this game.”
They are good rivals, with good quality, in good form. I am looking forward to the game Pep Guardiola