Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola make the cover of The National Sport on Wednesday, October 25, 2016 as they prepare to lock horns for the second time this season when Guardiola's Manchester City travel across town to face Manchester United in the League Cup.
Guardiola did not look a manager on the brink of reaching an unwanted landmark at a news conference ahead of the last-16 clash on Tuesday, nor one who enters a Manchester derby against a manager who has shown an uncanny ability to rile him in the past.
City have gone five games without a victory and a defeat to Manchester United, and Mourinho, would send them out and Guardiola into uncharted territory.
Yet while he spoke with quiet intensity, his natural confidence radiated. Short-termism will not prevail. Guardiola can see the bigger picture and the temptation to select all of his premier players will be resisted. “We are going to rotate,” he said.
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