Pep Guardiola plays down rivalry with Jose Mourinho

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 08 July 2016

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola plays down his rivalry with Jose Mourinho, insisting that facing the top managers helps him to improve.

New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has played down his rivalry with Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho.

The duo are regarded by many as the two best managers in world football, and had a number of high-profile spats during their time in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

The Manchester derby will play host to another meeting between the pair this season following their appointments this summer, but Guardiola insists that facing the likes of Mourinho and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp help him to improve.

"I think Jose said pretty well that it's not about him and not about me. We focus on ourselves but it's so tough to win here we all know that," he told reporters at his first press conference.

"We played many times against each other and the big coaches, Jose is definitely one of them, helped me reach a new level. Jurgen Klopp is another when he was at Dortmund that has made me better."

Guardiola has won seven of the previous 16 meetings between the two managers, with Mourinho coming out on top just three times.