Guardiola recalls his time with Arteta: He didn’t celebrate goals against Arsenal. Now he has to beat his pupil

Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. That was the fantastic Spanish duo that crushed the Premier League in the colours of Manchester City. The Catalan coach has nurtured his Basque apprentice and now he wants to take the title from him.

The Premier League promises to be a thrilling spectacle. Arsenal are five points ahead of the winner of the last two editions, Manchester City, with a game to spare.

The two teams will meet each other in mid-February and to make it even spicier, tomorrow the two teams will face each other in the 1/16 FA Cup final.

Arsenal are at the top of the table after years of misery, led there by former player Mikel Arteta, who learned from his compatriot Pep Guardiola in his coaching beginnings at Manchester City.

But when he was given the opportunity to take over as Arsenal’s head coach in December 2019, he didn’t hesitate. It took him a while, but he eventually transformed the team into the form it is at the moment and as a disciple, he is slowly surpassing his mentor.

“Every time we scored a goal, Mikel jumped up and joyfully celebrated them, except for one team. I jumped up, celebrated, turned around and he was sitting on the bench. It was Arsenal. That’s when I realised.

“Everybody has dreams and he went back to his dream club. He was an Arsenal fan, he was captain there and he loved that club. I didn’t want to stop him. Life is too short. You have to fly,” Guardiola explains why he allowed his key assistant to leave for Arsenal.

But it is Arteta who may now break Guardiola’s reign in England. The Citizens have dominated four of the last five editions, the first time the trophy would return to London since 2017. The Gunners haven’t touched the league title since 2004, when the Invincibles went to the trophy without a single defeat.

Source: FA Cup, Manchester City