Between slaps and kisses, Cristiano Ronaldo and Guardiola meet again in the Premier League

Cristiano Ronaldo and Pep Guardiola have met several times and have built a ‘love-hate’ relationship

In the framework of the eleventh date of the 2021-22 Premier League, this Saturday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford will mark the reunion between two old rivals, Cristiano Ronaldo and Josep Guardiola.

These two of the great figures of world football have faced each other several times and, even without having worked together, over the years they have built a relationship between slapping -literally- and -almost-kisses.

Now, with different realities in the campaign, they will meet for the first time in the Premier League.

History of clashes

Ronaldo and Guardiola have met 16 times. Of these, the coach won 8, lost 4 and tied 4. Despite having worse numbers than Pep, it should be noted that in these 16 matches, CR7 scored 8 goals.

Current season

In 14 games played so far, Guardiola’s City has better numbers this season. Pep’s boys have 9 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. On the other hand, United of CR7 has seven wins, three draws and four losses.

In the Premier League, the Citizens are in third place, with 20 points, five less than leader Chelsea and two less than Liverpool, in second place. The Red Devils, on the other hand, appear in fifth place with 17, eight points off the top of the table.

In the Champions League, the two teams lead their respective groups, however, the one who has stolen the stage is Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese, who has broken record after record in the tournament, has saved Ole Solskjaer with five goals scored in four games.

Slapping

The atmosphere of rivalry began in 2010, when CR7 was the star of Real Madrid and the Spanish coach was at the helm of Barcelona. During a LaLiga Classic both fought. At that time, the Catalans won the game 2-0 and after a ball that left the band, the Portuguese star pushed the Catalan coach because he had not given him the ball in his hands.

A big mess broke out at the Camp Nou and the two ended up with a yellow card. At the end of the match, Guardiola’s team took all three points by score from 5 to 0.

(Almost) kisses

Despite the problems, both figures have exchanged praise and Guardiola even asked for the signing of Ronaldo. In the past Summer Market, the Spanish coach even spoke by phone with Cristiano to try to convince him to leave Juventus to play for Manchester City. After all, who doesn’t want the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on their team?

What the captain did not expect is that CR7 would close his return to Old Trafford. Frustration? Not at all!

“We have a great squad. I can only thank the club, which always tries to sign the best players. There is no frustration with the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo has not come. It is great that he is back in the Premier League. That is good news. ” Guardiola told Sky Sports after United’s official announcement.

Since returning to the Red Devils, Ronaldo has scored 9 goals in 11 games. Aware of the challenge ahead of him on Saturday, the Spanish coach already knows what to do if he wants to win at Old Trafford.

“They have one of the best players in history, a guy who can be a scoring machine,” Guardiola told a news conference.