New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his staff are “relaxed” ahead of the next installment of his storied rivalry with Jose Mourinho, who was recently appointed manager of cross-town rivals United.
The duo encountered each other often in their time in Spain, where Guardiola coached Barcelona and Mourinho was in charge of Real Madrid.
But Guardiola’s assistant manager Domenec Torrent – who worked with Guardiola at Barcelona and more recently Bayern Munich – says any hint of a rivalry between the two has come from Mourinho’s actions.
“Asides from the famous news conference [when Guardiola claimed Mournho was the ‘f***ing boss’ of the press room], if there was anything between them it was from Mourinho towards Guardiola,” he told El Punt Avui.
“Manchester is a small place and I’m sure we will coincide [with Mourinho] in restaurants. One day he can pay and another day Pep and I will pay.
“I think Pep is past being spooked by anything. You just get on with your work and control everything that is in your power to control. For our part we are very relaxed about it all.”
The two face off for the first time in the Premier League on September 10, though they will meet in pre-season during the International Champions Cup in Beijing.
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