Manchester Derby: Pep v Jose

Saturday’s Manchester Derby marks a renewal of hostilities for two managers who are not too keen on each other to say the least.

Though Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola won’t pull on a jersey or lace up boots at Old Trafford, their influence will be as important as any of the players they set out.

Like all great rivalries, that of Pep and Jose is rooted in friendship, a friendship that has deteriorated into antipathy over the years.

Guardiola, eight year’s Mourinho’s junior, was still in the Barcelona side when the Portuguese arrived in 1996 as an assistant first to Sir Bobby Robson and then to Louis Van Gaal.

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They shared success, including two Ligas, two Copas and a Cup Winner’s Cup, though not to the extent each would achieve subsequently as managers.

Around 2000 their paths diverged as Barca decided their services were no longer required.

Each man sought to further their football educations – Pep via playing in Italy, Mexico and Qatar and Jose to manage in his native Portugal most famously with FC Porto.

The genesis of the rivalry we will see in full force at the Theater of Dreams on Saturday occurs in the summer of 2008 when Guardiola is hired ahead of Mourinho for the job of Barcelona manager.

Their paths do not cross again for a season but over four grueling Champions League ties in the 2009-10 campaign any remaining goodwill between the managers evaporates.

Mourinho, now at Inter Milan, secures a 0-0 draw in a group match against Barca, his first managerial head-to-head with Guardiola. Barca win the return 2-0 but the sides meet again in the semi-final and Inter progress 3-2 on aggregate en route to their first title since 1965.

Fueled by a lingering suspicion from his time at Chelsea that Barca are favored by the football authorities because of their style of play, Mourinho’s spell at Real Madrid and their relationship with their rivals fractious and often contentious.

In Spain, Guardiola is the clear top dog in head-to-heads and his Barcelona side win five of the eleven contests between the sides, drawing four and losing only two.

Yet the losses, in the 2011 Copa del Rey final, and a 2-1 home defeat in April 2012 that paved the way for a Real title win, are contributing factors in Pep’s decision to take a year long sabbatical.

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There is one more meeting between the managers in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, which Guardiola’s Bayern Munich win on penalties after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes.

After a pre-season friendly in the International Champions Cup was cancelled due to pitch conditions, the next chapter of the Mourinho-Guardiola story will be no phoney war. With the sides locked together atop the Premier League after three wins apiece, Saturday will be pivotal in the title race.

Overall the head-to-head record reads Guardiola seven wins, Mourinho two with six draws.

Before Saturday’s kick-off, read the best of the barbs between the coaches here.

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