Mikel Arteta has spoken highly of Unai Emery ahead of Arsenal's Europa League semi-final against Villarreal.
The current Gunners boss succeeded his compatriot in December 2019 and now must overcome a three-time winner of the competition if his side are to be playing Champions League football next season.
Interestingly, Emery spoke to Arteta before the latter was appointed so there's already mutual respect between the pair.
"I spoke a few times because we had people in common and then I spoke with him before I took the club," Arteta revealed in his pre-match press conference. "He was really helpful. A very, very experienced and successful manager in the Europa League especially with what he’s done.
"So, I think there is no doubt that he’s got the tools and the knowledge to manage at the top level.
"He offered me that opportunity which is sometimes very unusual. He was very sincere and open and I was very grateful for that."
Whilst this will be the first time Arteta and Emery will go head-to-head, their paths have crossed twice before.
The latter's first competitive game in charge of Arsenal was against Manchester City in August 2018 and in the opposition dugout, that afternoon alongside Pep Guardiola was Arteta.
And the Telegraph revealed a key role that the former Man City assistant head coach played in a 2-0 win for the visitors.
When Bernardo Silva scored to double City's lead in the second half, the television cameras showed Arteta being congratulated by Guardiola and the rest of the bench.
The reason for this is believed to be because Arteta had suggested a tactical tweak that directly resulted in Silva's goal.
In addition, the report states that the Spaniard had already drawn up forensic studies of the Gunners squad in preparation for potentially succeeding Arsene Wenger, so was in the perfect position to help Guardiola mastermind their downfall.
As a result, the pair devised a plan that saw Raheem Sterling switch to the left-hand side to take advantage of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil on Arsenal’s flanks by loading their own wide areas with pace.
This move worked to devastating effect and Guardiola acknowledged that Arteta's advice had worked by thanking him.
Arteta will have to repeat this trick to mastermind a win over Emery to reach the Europa League final, but the signs are that he is more than capable of doing exactly that.
