Come Sunday, December 10, lover of the beautiful game of football will be in the wait to know the outcome of one of the World's fierce derby - The Manchester derby.
And this time around what will be more significant about the derby is the fact that both team are doing fantastically well in all competitions this season.
Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho worked together as player and assistant coach at FC Barcelona
Another key reason it is going to be an interesting tie is because of the men on the touchline - The rivarly between the managers of both teams (Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola) is set to be renewed in this clash.
Speaking on the rivalry between both manager here are five times Pep Guardiola had shown Jose Mourinho he is the boss:
1. City's 2-1 victory over United at Old Trafford (English Premier League, September 2016) :
Guardiola and mourinho in a pre match handshake
It was Pep Guardiola that had the last laugh in their meeting last season at Old Trafford as City defeated United 2-1 and it was Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho that got the winner for the Citizens
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2. Barcelona 2-0 Inter ( Champions League group stages, November, 2009):
These two hardly see eye to eye especially on the pitch
Guardiola won this one despite being without then key players Lionel Messi and Ibrahimovic, Barcelona took a giant step towards winning the group thanks to a midfield masterclass from Xavi.
3. Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid (La Liga, November, 2010):
Once in a while they still find time to laugh with each other
This was when Pep had led Barcelona to be at their scintillating best - in the encounter they destroyed Mourinho's gameplan, with Messi causing havoc as a false nine. It was Mourinho's heaviest defeat as a manager.
4. Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona ( Champions League semi-final first-leg, April, 2011):
We bet you did not know they were cool buddy while at Barcelona
The game even before kickoff was marred with too many controveries as both managers as both managers were involved in pre-match insults.
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It was hardly a surprise that the game was marred by negative tactics, play-acting and Pepe and Mourinho being sent -off. Thankfully, Messi stole the show with two late wondergoals.
5. Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona ( La Liga, December, 2011)
Guardiola guarded his Barcelona side to drawing level with their bitter rivals at the top of La Liga - despite Karim Benzema scoring the quickest goal in El Clasico history after just 23 seconds.
Source: Sports.naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Thursday, 7 December 2017