EPL reunites old rivals at Manchester

For anyone who had their nose inside a book of fiction or their eyes glued to screen it is evident that the hero, any hero, is only as good as the villain. It’s the proverbial dark vs light and yin vs yang that makes the story compelling.

And it will be a similar scene next season in Manchester. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have a history. A long and drawn out one which leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth of those who are willing to take a stroll down memory lane.

While many may portray the Spaniard as the light with his possession football that is deeply ingrained in his psyche since the early years at Barcelona and Mourinho as the dark with his deep-seated belief that it’s not the method but the result that counts. A man quite capable of killing the game to get the result he wants.

But then again, there is another school of thought, one that no doubt Zlatan Ibrahimovic will attest to, that shows them in opposite lights. It’s all a matter of perspective.

The relationship between the duo would start off innocent enough with the Portuguese being the assistant manager at Barcelona while Guardiola was the midfield backbone of the team. Fast forward a few years, the image of Mourinho running with his hands in the air after pulling out what many believed a near impossible task, defeating Barcelona with Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final, remains a clear picture.

It was a moment of comeuppance in the mind of the former Chelsea tactician against a side who went in a different direction despite his outrageous CV and immense interest to take over the Catalan club. They had chosen Guardiola to be their prodigal son.

Next season, Mourinho took over Barcelona’s fiercest rivals and was tasked with one thing, stop the Barcelona juggernaut. To be fair to Mourinho, he did more than enough at Real Madrid to upset the apple cart against Barcelona and in the process, in true Mourinho fashion, downright burned the bridges — if at all he had any with the club. He employed everything from poking the eye of the assistant manager to manipulating the media to even refusing to water the grass during their home matches against Barcelona to damage their passing rhythm. And it garnered result as he cracked the Zen-like exterior of Guardiola.

Guardiola would put it all behind him, move to Bayern Munich and win three league titles and two cups in his three years there before deciding to try his luck in England with Manchester City. Meanwhile, Mourinho would return to Chelsea and add to his trophies with another league and League Cup only to once again fall on his sword and leave the club. At the time of writing, the Special One is all set to take charge of the red side of Manchester after quietly leading a guerilla campaign for half the season for that seat. So strap on tight and let the games begin for there will hardly be a boring a moment at Manchester.