Pep Guardiola claimed working with Mikel Arteta made him a "better manager" ahead of Friday's FA Cup reunion.
Guardiola's Manchester City side host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in the fourth round, the first clash this season between the current top two sides in the Premier League.
Arteta will return to Manchester for the game, having spent three years working as Guardiola's assistant after he ended his playing career in 2016.
The Gunners boss has spoken of the impact of his former mentor and how their partnership helped to craft him into a manager, having left City for Arsenal in 2019.
It was not just a one-way street though, with Guardiola revealing he benefitted similarly from working alongside his Spanish compatriot.
"He said he would like to work together and that he can help because he knows the Premier League perfectly, he knows all the managers," Guardiola told a press conference.
"I remember the first game, we played against Sunderland and against David Moyes. He said he knows him well from Everton, he does this, he does that, all the strategies and the pieces.
"After 15 minutes, half an hour, I knew he was the man, the guy to help me. If you can have someone who can anticipate and has the knowledge of what it is like to go to Stoke City away, to go to every stadium, a guy who has been there for many years.
"So, we started to work together. I don't know what my part on him was, but his influence on me was great, it was massive and so important to be a better manager."
Even in his years with City, Guardiola knew Arteta retained an allegiance to Arsenal, where he was a former club captain. Guardiola revealed Arteta never used to celebrate goals against the side he skippered in the final two years of his playing career.
"I know he went to his team, his club, the team he dreamed of. He was a supporter, he played there, he was captain there, he loves that club," Guardiola said.
"I remember when we worked together here, we'd score a lot of goals and he was always jumping and celebrating, except against one team. Against this team, we'd score a goal, I'd jump, I'd turn and he was sitting there – it was Arsenal."
Arteta has made Arsenal the team to beat in this season's Premier League, with the Gunners five points clear of City, also boasting a game in hand.
Guardiola said Arteta's move to Arsenal made complete sense.
"It's like me, if I was training here as assistant coach and Barcelona called me, I would go," Guardiola said. "It is my club. I'm not the person to say he must stay here with me, he has a contract. People have to fly when they believe it's best for them.
"For players, I've said it many times, if they're not happy they have to leave. Life is too short, especially for players, to spend time in a place that you don't like, that's treated you bad or whatever. That's what it is."
Rennes make top four, Nantes survive and Auxerre relegated on Ligue 1 final day
Rennes edged out Lille and Monaco to secure a top-four finish while Nantes' first league win since February saw them stay up at Auxerre's expense on a dramatic final day of Ligue 1 action.
Rennes clinched a 2-1 victory against Brest thanks to a Benjamin Bourigeaud brace, seizing on Lille's 1-1 draw with relegated Troyes and Monaco's 2-1 reverse against Toulouse to take fourth.
Bruno Genesio's side thus secured Europa League football for next season, while Paulo Fonseca's Lille must settle for a Europa Conference League spot and Monaco missed out entirely.
Champions Paris Saint-Germain squandered a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to Clermont, meaning they finished just one point clear of runners-up Lens, who ended the season with a 3-1 win at Auxerre.
That victory allowed Nantes to finalise a great escape in their final game, vaulting Auxerre to secure safety with a 1-0 win over relegated Angers.
Nantes therefore secured top-flight football for another year, evading the expanded four-team relegation zone by a single point ahead of the division being cut to 18 teams.
Auxerre, Ajaccio, Troyes and Angers will play in Ligue 2 next season, with Le Havre and either Metz or Bordeaux coming up from the second tier.
Lionel Messi’s final game for Paris St Germain ends in defeat to Clermont
Lionel Messi ended his Paris St Germain career with a 3-2 defeat to Clermont.
The Argentinian World Cup winner will quit Paris this summer having already been linked with a return to Barcelona and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal next season.
He will leave as a Ligue 1 champion with PSG having already secured the title before blowing a 2-0 lead to lose on the final day of the season.
Sergio Ramos, on his final appearance for the club, and Kylian Mbappe’s penalty gave the hosts control.
Johan Gastien pulled a goal back and Mehdi Zeffane levelled in first-half stoppage time. Grejohn Kyei gave the visitors the lead after 63 minutes and Clermont held out for victory.
At the bottom, Nantes beat the drop by a point on the final day as Auxerre were relegated.
A 1-0 win over rock-bottom Angers, thanks to Ignatius Ganago’s goal, gave Nantes the win they needed as Auxerre lost 3-1 at home to Lens.
Alexis Claude-Maurice’s double gave Lens a 2-0 lead before M’Baye Niang pulled a goal back. Lois Openda made it 3-1 with 12 minutes left to seal Auxerre’s fate.
Rennes won 2-1 at Brest as they clinched fourth ahead of Lille thanks to Benjamin Bourigeaud’s double, with Lille held 1-1 by relegated Troyes to go into the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Monaco missed out on the top five after a 2-1 defeat at home to Toulouse.
Relegated Ajaccio beat third-placed Marseille 1-0, Lorient beat Strasbourg 2-1 and Nice beat Lyon 3-1 with mid-table Montpellier winning 3-1 at Reims, finishing a point behind their hosts.
In Germany, Chelsea-bound Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring as RB Leipzig beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the German Cup final.
The striker broke the deadlock in the 71st minute before Dominik Szoboszlai doubled the lead with five minutes left.
In Italy, Lazio sealed second spot in Serie A after a 2-0 win at Empoli thanks to goals from Alessio Romagnoli and Luis Alberto.
It came after Marcelo Brozovic scored the winner as Inter Milan beat Torino 1-0 to briefly move ahead of them but Inter must now settle for third.
Already relegated Cremonese beat Salernitana 2-0 to finish their season on a high.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-3 Clermont: Messi and Ramos denied winning send-off as visitors fight back
Paris Saint-Germain failed to muster a winning send-off for Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos as they ended the Ligue 1 season by squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss against Clermont.
Early goals for the Spaniard and Kylian Mbappe put the champions on top at Parc des Princes, before Johan Gastien, Mehdi Zeffane and Grejohn Kyei completed a stirring comeback from the visitors.
It was a damp last note for ex-LaLiga heroes Messi and Ramos, who leave Paris as two-time league champions but without having won supporters' hearts – with Messi booed ahead of kick-off.
Likewise, it may prove a dour final chapter for coach Christophe Galtier, who is widely tipped to depart despite leading PSG to a record 11th league title.
PSG, who wore shirts adorned with the name of injured team-mate Sergio Rico in the first half, needed VAR to rescue them after Kyei prodded home an early finish.
The hosts promptly seized control, with Ramos netting a farewell header from Vitinha's delivery before Mbappe doubled their lead with an excellent penalty following Alidu Seidu's foul on Achraf Hakimi.
Clermont refused to fold though, with Gastien capitalising on Marco Verratti's mistake to halve the arrears and Zeffane bundling in a leveller either side of Kyei putting a spot-kick wide in a thrilling first half.
Messi, who misfired on his farewell, spurned a chance to finish Mbappe's square ball after the restart before Kyei nosed the visitors in front with a close-range finish.
PSG continued to toil for an equaliser in the closing stages and Messi almost stole a point in the final minute of injury time, only for goalkeeper Mory Diaw to stop his direct free-kick with an acrobatic save.
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