PSG star Neymar has twice previously expressed his desire to play under Pep Guardiola, and will play against the legendary coach when his side takes on Manchester City on Tuesday in the Champions League.
While the pair have never worked with each other before, Neymar has previously said he would like to be managed by Guardiola at some point during his career.
The two are set to come head-to-head on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes in matchday 2 of the Champions League.
City convincingly won their opening match 6-3 against RB Leipzig, while Neymar’s PSG slipped up with a 1-1 draw against Belgian champions Club Brugge.
Neymar’s first comments came when he was at Barcelona, and Guardiola was on the verge of joining City from Bayern Munich, with the Brazilian saying he would ‘love’ to work with the Spaniard.
“Guardiola is a guy that I really admire and who I would love to work with,” Neymar said in 2016.
"It's tough to say if I want to play in other countries. Nobody knows tomorrow, but I'm very happy where I am right now, at Barcelona.
"I have the will to go back to Brazil some day and I also would like to play in the USA, those two countries are two where I want to play later on my career."
Then in 2018, Neymar reiterated his desire to work with the ex-Barcelona boss just a year after leaving the Catalan giants to join PSG for a world record fee of £198million.
Speaking to ESPN, Neymar said: "I have always wanted to work with Guardiola.
"It's different, I arrived [at Barca] after he left. I really want to work with him."
The pair missed the chance to work with one another at Barcelona, with Neymar joining a year after Guardiola departed.
Meanwhile, the City manager has said his side need to prepare themselves for “pain” and they need to be ready to “suffer” when they come against Neymar’s PSG on Tuesday.
Will Neymar and Guardiola ever work together? Comment below.
“We have to be compact, help each other and know we’re going to suffer and have pain,” said Guardiola. “It’s how you handle the pain;. They’re so good, these type of teams; you have to be able to suffer for 90 minutes.”
Guardiola also admitted his team will have to work as a unit if they are to stop the most formidable attacking force in world football.
“We don’t defend well because we have good defenders,” he said. “It’s because everyone puts their heart and spirit into helping each other. Defending depends on the will of the players. I don’t know what we should do to stop them with that amount of quality. But PSG have so much talent we have to do it as a team; we can’t put pressure on just one player.”
Lionel Messi is expected to start on the bench for Mauricio Pochettino’s side but is likely to feature at some point.
“What Messi’s done in his career is more than exceptional. Hopefully tomorrow he can play, for the benefit of the game,” Guardiola said.
City beat their French opponents twice in Europe’s premier club competition last season, but Guardiola feels things will be different this time around.
The French giants have a 100% record in Ligue 1 this season and have added a whole host of household names since the two sides last faced each other - including the likes of Messi, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, Georginio Wijnaldum and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“Last season they were a fantastic team and it was a tight game and now they have Messi,” he said. “They’re huge competitors. It’s a new game, a new season, a new challenge.
“The confidence is not that we beat them in the knockout last season. Football is highs and lows and can change so quick. Last season they were better in the first half in Paris but we defended better than we expected, punished them on the counter and did it well.”
