“But without Aguero, it’s more hard”.
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“That’s important? I don’t think it’s important”, Mourinho said. We know their formation, we know their dynamics and nobody has doubts – when a player like him is ready, he plays.
The contradiction reflects how he seems to generally slow down play but then offer key moments. The two managers reigniting their La Liga rivalry, the two teams still now unbeaten, the summer investments into the squads….
PLAYER TO WATCH: David Silva. “They are a title contender and you have to respect them that way”. But in the end you don’t win the titles for that rivalry because it is just two or three games in a season.
“In Spain [with Barcelona] it was total football, with Bayern Munich it was total football, I think Saturday will be a little bit more physical than he’s been used to anywhere else he’s managed”. Aguero’s absence will also prove costly for City with United edging it 2-1.
Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo all lined up for Argentina, while Antonio Valencia played for Ecuador.
The eyes of the world will be on Manchester this weekend as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola bring their bitter feud to the Premier League for the first time.
In their first “derby” clash, Barcelona destroyed Real Madrid 5-0, and overall Guardiola has won seven, drawn six and lost three of their 16 clashes. They have an amazingly rich squad in options.
Paul Pogba is another new arrival who has made an impact on De Gea, with the France global returning to United after four years in Serie A with Juventus, while United manager Jose Mourinho also earned praise from the shot-stopper.
However, Mourinho says the ban makes his job harder as he has no idea how Guardiola will line up without his star man. Kelechi Iheanacho is the most obvious like-for-like replacement, but the Catalan could opt to deploy a false 9 instead as he often did at Barcelona.
“They have a very good squad, they have a very good manager”.
His time to soak up the pre-match atmosphere has also been limited and he is reserving judgement on how the fixture compares to previous derbies in which he has been involved.
It is normal between managers and players you have more connections with some than others, but that doesn’t mean you hate each other.
“For me, I’ve been through it and I know how it is”.
“We are fortunate to be here and live that experience”.
“I was lucky to be coach of some fantastic players and we won a lot of prizes because we won a lot of games and not just against Jose”.
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Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will make debut following his move from Barcelona, though midfielders Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane are unlikely to be risked and defender Vincent Kompany needs more time.
