As Pep Guardiola considered the assistant turned adversary, he started off with the compliments before turning to the more cutting comments. There are times, the Manchester City manager may think, that he schooled Mikel Arteta too well. Their last meeting brought a 5-1 Arsenal win. Arteta became among the select group of managers – along with Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot – to finish above Guardiola in a league season. But, like Pochettino, Arteta’s accomplishment came without the prize of a league title.
“Mikel is an extraordinary manager and they increase the squad for four or five transfer windows,” noted Guardiola, ahead of their latest reunion. “So it is an unbelievable squad and an unbelievable team. It is one of the toughest opponents you can find now in Europe.”
