Pep Guardiola pays tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of Manchester derby

Ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby, Guardiola discussed the latest ongoings at the Premier League club.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday by signing a special book of condolence for the Manchester United and England great, who recently passed away at the age of 86.

Reigning European champions City won their third consecutive match in the Champions League in midweek, beating BSC Young Boys 3-1 in Switzerland, with a brace from Erling Haaland.

Definitely. This is going to happen, definitely.

They are always dangerous. It doesn’t matter the managers – and I have seen a few – they are always a tough opponent with the quality of the individual, the character, the momentum. They have the ability not to be on top and then just score goals. We know their quality, no doubts about that.

When I was at Barca and Bayern (Munich), when I travel to Old Trafford, always [it was] special. Special occasion, special place. It’s special for our fans, but it’s just a football game. It’s not a final. The match won’t define the season, there are still 30 games to go but we have to be focused.

It’s a good rivalry. No big issues happened in my eight seasons here. We’ve won games, lost games, the FA Cup final was special because we won. It was so important to go to Istanbul with the challenge to do what we have done.

They don’t represent us. Alcohol makes bad things in people. Mike Summerbee going to Old Trafford to sign the book represents us. We have huge respect to Manchester United and we prove it, losing or winning. We have a lot of respect, especially for an iconic figure like Sir Bobby Charlton. Tomorrow we will be part of that. We send our condolences to