The Bundesliga champions won the treble in the 2012/13 season under the guidance of Jupp Heynckes and the latter was replaced by the former Barcelona boss at the Allianz Arena. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play in his first Manchester derby and the Swede pulled no punches in his biography about his relationship with Guardiola when the pair were at Barcelona.
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Mourinho, 53, once admitted to Cadena Ser that he and the 45-year-old Guardiola were “close” when they were both part of the Barcelona setup under manager Sir Bobby Robson (h/t the Daily Mail’s Ian Ladyman). Speaking to Omnisport (h/t Goal) ahead of the derby, Schmeichel said that Guardiola took the fun out of watching Bayern Munich play and was extremely fortunate to achieve the success he did during his time at the Camp Nou.
One major factor to take into consideration this weekend is that Sergio Aguero will not be playing, suspended after a nasty elbow on Winston Reid of West Ham.
It’s time to get the broom out Pep, you’ve got a big task on your hands.
Shaw picked up a minor calf injury in training while on worldwide break with England, but England manager Sam Allardyce has said he thinks Shaw should be fit by this weekend.
Whoever had early September in the ‘when will Jose Mourinho fall out with his first player at Manchester United?’ pool in work, congratulations.
11 – Manchester derby goals scored by United’s Wayne Rooney, a record in the fixture. “I’ve trained well and my hamstring is fine so I’m looking for to finally getting started”. Having made big-budget signings in the recently concluded summer transfer window, City and United have begun their season on a high taking nine points from three games each.
Going into the contest on Saturday, much pressure will be on Guardiola’s counterpart which will give the Spaniard the advantage at Old Trafford.
The capacity is rising to more than 54,000, with an additional 8,500 Liverpool fans now accommodated after the Fenway Sports Group scrapped the plans by previous American owners to build a completely new venue.
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Mauricio Pochettino is relieved to have signed midfielder Christian Eriksen to a new contract with Tottenham through 2020.
