Mourinho even snapped at a reporter who asked whether he would shake his opposing number’s hand before the game.
Advertisement
“I’m pretty sure they will be stronger than in previous years”, said Guardiola. We were opponents for three years [in Spain] but we are professionals. “Of course I’ll shake his hand”, he said.
“I saw the last game against Borussia Dortmund (when United lost 4-1) and that’s all (apart from) a little bit against Wigan”.
“Normally when you say lucky you say lucky because you want a good result. I hope we can leave soon so that we can prepare ourselves for the game versus Manchester City”.
“A good result means going home without any injuries”. No reason why. He wants to win, I want to win, that’s all.
Captain Vincent Kompany is in Beijing with the squad after recovering from an injury-blighted campaign in 2015-16, but did not train with the rest of the players as he is undergoing his own intensive programme to regain full fitness.
It was the latest disruption of a trip impacted by bad weather en route to Beijing on Saturday evening, forcing one of United’s two planes to take an unscheduled stop in Tianjin.
Instead, preparations for Monday’s match have been beset with problems from United’s end, given the flight issues en route to the Chinese capital and organisational problems upon arrival.
Both managers won one La Liga title each between 2010 and 2012, but Guardiola’s Champions League success in 2011 (when Barca beat Manchester United) gave the Spaniard the edge.
“I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is very bad”.
“Their training schedule has been disrupted because of the rain, meaning the venue for their pre-match session had to be switched from the Bird’s Nest to the Olympic Sports Centre in order to protect the pitch they will play Manchester City on on Monday”.
“We know the humidity for the training is not ideal, but we also know that it’s so important to come here to know the people and to play a good two games against awesome teams like United and Dortmund”.
“The most important thing is that we get no injuries [on Monday]”, said Guardiola. “I don’t see why I wouldn’t shake his hand”.
Advertisement
When questioned about why the club has come to China, Mourinho said: “It’s good for the fans and for the commercial side of things”.
