Pep wary over United’s ‘goal machine’ Ronaldo

PEP Guardiola acknowledges City face a difficult test keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet when they take on United in the derby fixture tomorrow.

Manchester will come to a standstill on Saturday lunchtime when the two giants meet at Old Trafford for the first derby encounter of the season in a match, which could be season defining for either side.

City warmed up for the clash with a 4-1 win over Club Brugge on Wednesday night, 24 hours after United twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Atalanta.

Summer signing Ronaldo, who had looked set to join City in the summer transfer window, netted both goals for United in Italy to take his tally to nine goals in 11 appearances since rejoining, perfect preparation for this weekend’s mammoth match.

When asked what to expect this weekend Guardiola admitted he hadn’t looked at United’s performance yet but warned his side will need to be at their best to stop anyone as good as Ronaldo.

“I didn’t see the United match [against Atalanta],

I’m going to analyse and to see what they are so I know how good they are,” said Guardiola in his post-match press conference.

“We saw it last season. They have one of the best players in history, a guy who can be a scoring machine.”

City have just 48 hours to prepare for the Manchester derby while United will have an extra day to get ready but Guardiola resisted the temptation to hit out at the fixture list when pressed on the matter.

He added: “If they want us to play tomorrow, we will play tomorrow. The schedule is the schedule. We will be at Old Trafford at 12.30pm on Saturday.”