Pep Guardiola cut through the emotion surrounding the Manchester derby by insisting it is nothing special to him.
City travel to Old Trafford to face neighbours United on Saturday, with Guardiola's side favourites to win and pile the pressure back on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Guardiola was asked if the derby was special for him, like it is for the fans of both Manchester clubs, and the City boss said he does not get caught up in the hype surrounding it.
“I don’t feel it,” said Guardiola. “I wake up and come here to the bubble in this training centre and I’m 12 or 14 hours here. Then I go home.
“I don’t go to restaurants or pubs. I can imagine how important it is for both sides, but I have to be cool in my mind and head, to know what we have to do, to do our best, no more than that.
“Maybe for some people, of course it’s special, for the city, for many issues, but at the end it’s the same result, it's not like a semi-final or final.”
On the threat posed by United, Guardiola said: “They have a lot of physicality, people with the ability to win games up front and good runners in behind, especially when Bruno Fernandes has the ball. They always have quality.
“We had some good games against them, one game when we drew was a bit boring, when the teams were a bit scared.
“They're so good up front and now, with Cristiano Ronaldo, they are even better.”
