Pep Guardiola offered a lovely response when asked to compare himself with Jose Mourinho.
Guardiola and Mourinho’s coaching careers are intrinsically linked after their rivalry in La Liga has now been supplemented with one in the Premier League.
Both butted heads in Spain as Mourinho’s Real Madrid was the only obstacle to Barcelona’s domestic dominance under Guardiola.
The latter is now in charge of Manchester City, with Mourinho in the hotseat of bitter rivals United.
And after finishing third and sixth respectively in their first seasons after both being appointed in summer 2016, Guardiola won the Premier League title with a 19-point gap over second-placed United last campaign.
City’s lead over their bitter rivals is already 14 points and six places this season, but both now turn their attentions to the Champions League.
Guardiola admits City will be seen to “have failed” by many if they fail to win the competition, but the Spaniard took time to indulge in a journalist’s rather tiresome line of questioning.
In a light-hearted moment, Guardiola jokingly aimed a fake punch at a reporter asking him in French to compare himself with his Manchester United counterpart and rival Jose Mourinho.
“I am not the guy to answer that,” he said.
Lovely.
