Pep Guardiola has thanked Sir Jim Ratcliffe for ‘helping him do his job’ by stating his admiration for Manchester City.
New Manchester United co-owner Ratcliffe recently spoke of his ambition to knock neighbours City, and another of their rivals in Liverpool, “off their perch”.
Yet in doing so he conceded United had fallen well behind both of those clubs and admitted much could be learned from their success.
He even went as far as to say City’s 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semi-finals was “the best quality of football I’ve ever seen”.
Guardiola says such compliments are a source of pride and feed his continuing desire for success.
The City manager, whose side host United on Sunday, said: “I just say thank you so much.
“Sometimes they are more than the titles, the compliments of the personalities that make this country, like Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments. It is a complete honour for us.
“One can produce emotions and feelings for the players and our rivals. That helps to do our job. Thank you so much on behalf of all of us.
“But I am sure tomorrow they will try, one way or another, to inoculate the Man Utd players with the best performance to try to beat us.”
This weekend’s derby could be a key encounter for champions City in their bid to win a fourth successive Premier League title.
Considering their recent superiority over their neighbours, and United’s inconsistency this season, City are expected to come out on top but Guardiola is wary of the pitfalls of the fixture.
He said: “Do you remember when United went to Anfield this season? Last season it was 7-0.
“Remember the comments? How many goal are Liverpool going to score? It would be easy for Liverpool.
“What was the result? Liverpool didn’t win.
“It is United. The past is the past. Tomorrow it is 11 players with pride, with a manager – we cannot deny how good he has done in the past in Amsterdam – trying to do his best.
“In different situations, with City in the position of United, I know my players would behave at Old Trafford with pride and the best character. It is going to happen to United on Sunday.
“It will be a tough game, another final for us. I know how difficult it will be.
“It has been more difficult here than at Old Trafford in our period together. We lost more (derby) games here than Old Trafford. We have to perform really well to do it.”
Portugal 2-1 Scotland: Ronaldo's late heroics seal comeback win
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score the winner as Portugal earned a 2-1 victory, condemning Scotland to another late defeat.
The 39-year-old, who started on the bench in a competitive match for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, added to Bruno Fernandes' strike after Scott McTominay had given Scotland the lead early on.
The home crowd were just as stunned as Portugal's defence when McTominay snuck in behind, thumping Kenny McLean's cross past a stranded Diogo Costa after just seven minutes.
The hosts certainly had their chances to get back into the game though – Angus Gunn made a brilliant save to deny Rafael Leao, who also fired a number of efforts wide of the left post.
Though Scotland tried to continue soaking up the pressure, their defence was eventually breached nine minutes after the break, with Fernandes marking his 30th birthday with a sweeping finish from 20 yards out.
Gunn smothered Joao Felix's low shot in the 78th minute before Ronaldo came within millimetres of a winner as his header hit the inside of the far post.
But Ronaldo would have the final say as he stretched out a leg in the six-yard box to turn Nuno Mendes' cross into the back of the net.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the hero once again
Steve Clarke could not have asked for more from his team in the first half, as they scored with their only effort, but also resolutely defended as Portugal racked up 16 shots (three on target), creating 1.21 expected goals (xG).
It was a regular creator that got the Selecao back on level terms though, as Fernandes got his 21st goal involvement under Roberto Martinez in all competitions, at least five more than any other Portugal player (11 goals, 10 assists).
And Ronaldo is now up to 901 career goals, with only Aleksandar Mitrovic (14), Erling Haaland (12) and Romelu Lukaku (10) bettering his nine-goal tally in the Nations League.
Switzerland 1-4 Spain: Fabian brace leads 10-man La Roja to victory
Fabian Ruiz’s double helped 10-man Spain claim a comprehensive 4-1 win over Switzerland in the Nations League on a rainy night in Geneva.
Joselu opened the scoring after just four minutes as he latched onto the end of Lamine Yamal’s pinpoint cross to flick goalwards.
The goal was confirmed after some controversy as Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel thought he had clawed it away before it crossed the line.
Switzerland thought they had an immediate response three minutes later but Becir Omeragic had a goal ruled out for a handball in the build-up. Instead, Spain doubled their lead on 12 minutes as Fabian powered home the rebound from Nico Williams’ parried shot.
The Swiss were handed a lifeline as Robin Le Normand was shown a straight red for bringing Breel Embolo down as he went through on goal, and Zeki Amdouni rattled the crossbar from the resultant free-kick.
Amdouni did find the net to bring scores level just before half-time, sweeping home Embolo’s flick-on from a corner after finding himself unmarked at the back post. He nearly had a brace after the restart, but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Instead, it was Fabian with two goals to his name by the final whistle, after he tucked away at the far post in the 77th minute against the run of play before Ferran Torres added further gloss.
Data Debrief: Spain's run rolls on
The writing was on the wall early for Switzerland who have not won any of their last eight matches after conceding first in the Nations League. Spain, on the other hand, are undefeated in their last five matches when they have scored first in the competition.
It means, excluding friendlies, Spain are now unbeaten for 17 matches in all competitions (W15 D2). It is their best unbeaten run under a single manager since Vicente del Bosque was in charge in June 2013.
Italy boss Spalletti expects to make five changes for Israel match
Luciano Spalletti is expecting to make up to five changes for Italy's Nations League clash with Israel owing to the tight turnaround between matches.
Italy produced a shock 3-1 victory over France on Friday, just three days before they face Israel in Hungary.
But their opening three points in Group A2 took their toll, with starters Riccardo Calafiori and Lorenzo Pellegrini both leaving the squad after sustaining injuries in the match against France.
As such, Spalletti feels it is necessary to rotate for their upcoming match.
"It's difficult to put the same team out as Friday. It's not possible to get over the fatigue after just two days. Let's see how the guys are, but it's not unusual to change three, four, five players," the Italy boss told the press.
Some players, however, will have to play due to the injuries sustained in that victory, which saw them register their first win against France since June 2008.
"Bastoni will play tomorrow because it becomes tricky taking both him and Calafiori out of the team. He has the most experience, he brings things to the table that can help the whole team," Spalletti added.
"Frattesi will be evaluated in today's training, but he says he is fine and good to go. He was substituted earlier than planned, to avoid any unnecessary dangers. We need to see after a bit of training."
Italy play Israel in the Nations League on Monday at the Bozsik Arena in Hungary.
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