Mourinho & Guardiola: the war is back on... in Manchester!

Manchester is burning! The industrial English city is going to become the football centre of the world. Because, separated by just six kilometres, it will be the scene, four years later, of two irreconcilable enemies reencountering each other. Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. The war between the two when they were in charge of Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively will now take place in the Premier League. Mou will manage, as became official on Friday, Manchester United. Pep, Manchester City. Everything is set for the spectacle. Surely they won’t let us down….

The battles between Mourinho and Guardiola in football were epic. Battles on the pitch and in press conferences. From ‘puto amo’ to the ‘por qués’. Two ways of understanding sport. Two ways of understanding life. Two ways of understanding the world. ‘Satan’ Mourinho against ‘Philosopher’ Guardiola. The good against the bad. The results manager against the spectacular coach. The toughest and most contemptible Madrid in history against the best Barça of all time. A war that Pep clearly won: six titles for the Blaugrana and two for Los Blancos during the two years in which they coincided. 

The next combat will be in a much more reduced ring. Before, there was 600 kilometres separating them. Now, they’re hardly separated at all. The reencounter is predicted to be hot. Because there are a lot of issues outstanding. And the Premier League is the big winner. Because it will be the centre of the universe’s attention. The new battles between Mourinho and Guardiola promises a rollercoaster of emotions. As Pep would say: “Fasten your seatbelts!”