Pep Guardiola has insisted he is more concerned about injuries to his Manchester City players than renewing hostilities with Jose Mourinho amid growing fears over the state of the pitch for Monday’s friendly against Manchester United in Beijing.
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‘Of course, we are polite guys, ‘ replied Guardiola when asked if we would exchange the usual pre-match pleasantries with Mourinho.
Away from the action on the pitch, one focus of attention will be the first meeting between Guardiola and Mourinho since the pair clashed regularly as rival managers in Spain with Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. “Why not? Why wouldn’t I shake hands?” “A really friendly game”.
But Guardiola acknowledged that United would mount a serious challenge in the English Premier League after a period in the doldrums since the retirement of Alex Ferguson in 2013. I am pretty sure they will be stronger than previous year. “With this manager I’m sure they will buy new players”.
A good result would go some way into convincing their huge Asian following that they are still the Manchester team to cheer despite the set back against BVB.
Beijing has been lashed by rainstorms in recent days, and the teams didn’t train at the Bird’s Nest as planned in an effort to prevent further damage to the surface.
The first Manchester derby outside the United Kingdom will be played at the centrepiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Monday night, weather permitting.
“If during the season we realise the points difference doesn’t allow us to fight for the title, we are going to establish a new title and when you can’t be champion the next target is to finish top four”.
“The most important thing is that people aren’t going to be injured”. “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 incredible teams like United and Dortmund”.
But given the issues the Argentine has had with his hamstrings over the past two years Guardiola is unlikely to risk him and instead save him for Thursday’s game against Borussia Dortmund in Shenzhen.
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Louis van Gaal left the club in May two years into his three-year contract with just one piece of silverware to show for his work and Mourinho was also handed a three-year deal when he arrived. Forget about it. The most important thing is when the doctors and physios say he’s already fit.
