Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has congratulated soon-to-be arch-rival and former Bayern Munich colleague Erik ten Hag after being named as Manchester United ’s new head coach.
Ajax boss Ten Hag, who previously coached Bayern’s second team while Guardiola was the German giant’s first-team coach, was named as United’s new boss on Thursday morning, replacing Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.
While Guardiola and Ten Hag were together in Munich for two years between 2013 and 2015, the two will now manage direct rivals in City and United respectively, with Ten Hag succeeding the likes of Rangnick, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho. Guardiola has spoken highly of his former Munich colleague and believes that the style of play Ten Hag will take to Old Trafford will make United a very enjoyable side to watch.
“Congratulations to Erik and I wish him all the best,” said Guardiola when asked about Ten Hag’s new role. “He is a top-class manager and his teams are a joy to watch. Watch his Ajax team and you see his qualities.”
City are currently in a two-way fight for the Premier League title, with the Sky Blues going toe-to-toe with Liverpool for the 2021/22 crown. They already have five titles to their name, winning the competition in three of the last four seasons in the Guardiola era.
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Next up for City is a meeting with relegation-threatened Watford on Saturday afternoon. Their final Premier League fixtures after that include meetings with Leeds United, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Aston Villa. They will also face Wolverhampton Wanderers, although a new date for that postponed game is yet to be confirmed.
The Sky Blues are also still in the UEFA Champions League. They will take on Spanish outfit Real Madrid in the semi-finals, with the first leg taking place on Tuesday. In the quarter-finals, Real knocked Chelsea out of the competition, winning 5-4 on aggregate.
Liverpool’s final six league games of the season start on Sunday with the Merseyside derby at home to arch-rivals Everton. Their other fixtures come against Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur, Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and a meeting with Southampton that is yet to be re-arranged. They also have an FA Cup final against Chelsea to play out at Wembley Stadium.
Like City, Liverpool are also in the Champions League semi-finals, having gotten past Portuguese outfit Benfica in the last-eight stage. Spanish side Villarreal will take on the Reds in the semi-finals, meaning an all-English or an all-Spanish final are both possible next month.
City sit a point ahead of Liverpool with six games to go. However, it is Liverpool who go into the run-in as the Premier League’s form side. No side have picked up more points in the Premier League than the Reds in 2022, with Jurgen Klopp’s men winning all seven of their home league games this year so far.
