10/03/2020 - 11:01
Clarín.com
sports
Leeds United host Manchester City today Saturday, October 3
, for Date 4 of the English Premier League, at the Elland Road stadium.
This match will be the first meeting of the season between Argentine Marcelo Bielsa and Spaniard Pep Guardiola
, two coaches who profess mutual admiration and will meet again on a playing field after eight years.
With the arbitration of with arbitration by Mike Dean, the match between
Leeds and Manchester City will be played from 1:30 p.m. (Argentine time) and the live televising of ESPN 2
(channels 103 of Cablevisión and 623 of DirecTV) .
The tweet with which Guardiola celebrated the rise of Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds.
Since the rise of Leeds to the Premier League in the English Championship last season was consummated, the day when Marcelo Bielsa and Pep Guardiola meet again on a field is awaited with special attention, due to the fraternal relationship that both maintain.
In fact,
Guardiola celebrated the return of Leeds to the elite of England through his social networks
with a forceful phrase: "The best reaches the Premier League."
The relationship between the two dates back to 2006, when Guardiola had just retired as a professional footballer
and, in his eagerness to nourish himself with coaches who would lead the way, he traveled to Argentina to meet César Luis Menotti and Bielsa himself.
🇪🇸 #LUFC duo Diego Llorente and Rodrigo named in @SeFutbol squad for October's games against Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine pic.twitter.com/sIuI7lFWAl
- Leeds United (@LUFC) October 2, 2020
El Loco received him at his field in Entre Ríos and they spent eleven hours talking about football, in a talk that Pep considers unforgettable
.
“The truth is that I will never stop thanking Marcelo for the way he treated me because I was nobody, I didn't train or the subsidiary, I had just gotten my coach's license.
And when you are nobody, a coach receives you ... The way he treated me was wonderful, as I was with César Luis Menotti before, ”he recalls.
Guardiola defines Bielsa as "a true coach, because no other coach can play the way he does
.
"
And abounds: “You can learn a lot from his style.
Your end product is always incredibly personal.
Do not imitate it.
Nobody can do it, and that makes it very special. "
Here we go, celebrating 25 years of "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" # MorningGlory25 🎶
🔵 # MCFCEspañol |
https://t.co/EthAjgGL5opic.twitter.com/YYd4EsdMDs
- Manchester City (@ManCityES) October 2, 2020
Bielsa, meanwhile, says he has "genuine respect and admiration for Guardiola" and states that "the argument" he offers "to justify it is that the beauty of the game that Guardiola directs is inimitable."
"
Guardiola builds author teams"
, justifies El
Loco
.
And he abounds: "When I watch a Guardiola team play, I don't see anything that I observe in the teams built by me. For this reason, any praise I receive from Guardiola I always judge sincerely wrong and excessive. But I do believe that he deserves this praise. because I can explain why he deserves to be praised taking his teams as a reference, and he can't do the same for mine ”.
Image of the first owner between the two, on November 6, 2011: they equaled 2 to 2 in San Mamés (AP)
They will meet again in an official match after 3053 days, since the last time they saw each other was in the 2012 Copa del Rey final, played at the Vicente Calderón stadium and
saw Pep's Barcelona champion against Athletic de Bilbao de Bielsa
.
“Leading Athletic Bilbao, we played a final with Barcelona.
They beat us 3-0.
It was an act of generosity on their part: after the third goal they decided that it was enough.
That defeat gave me a deep sadness, of course.
When the game ended, I sent Guardiola this analysis, as a gift that showed admiration.
Guardiola looked at him and said: 'you know about Barcelona a lot of things that I don't know'.
But they were useless, because they got us three ”, says the Argentine about that meeting.
In that season they crossed paths three times: the best result that Bilbao got was a 2-2 in San Mamés, in a Spanish League match that Lionel Messi tied in injury time.
In the other league match, Barça won 2-0 and in the aforementioned final, they lifted the Copa del Rey with a double from Pedro and the remaining goal from Messi.
Leicester celebrate their fifth goal against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
(AP)
Beyond the personal history between the two coaches, reality faces them at a start to the season that shows Leeds better aspected than Manchester City.
Bielsa's team won two of their first three games, and the one they lost was 4-3 against Liverpool at Anfield.
While the Citizens, after having debuted with a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton, come from being thrashed 5-2 by Leicester at home.
After having played two games with seven goals each (they lost 4 to 3 with Liverpool and beat Fulham by the same result), the closest precedent for Leeds is the 1 to 0 with which Patrick Bamford scored on the Now, they beat Sheffield United in the first Yorkshire derby in the Premier League in more than 19 years.
Patrick Bamford scored in Leeds' first three games of the season.
(AFP)
Regarding that match, Bielsa will not have Jack Harrison
, whose pass belongs to City and cannot play this match.
His place could be taken by Ezgjan Alioski.
The Spanish Pablo Hernández, who is recovering from a muscle injury suffered in the warm-up prior to the win against Fulham, is also not available.
Guardiola has more difficulties, although the difference in squad is still marked in favor of Manchester
.
The Portuguese defender Ruben Dias, through whom City has just paid 70 million euros to Benfica, could already be in Pep's consideration in the attempt to amend a defense that in the last game committed three penalties.
Another good news for the Spaniard is
having recovered Aymeric Laporte, already recovered from the Covid-19 box
.
And the other great point of conflict in the City is the forward: Sergio Agüero is still marginalized after the meniscus operation in his left knee, and he does not have Gabriel Jesus either, with a muscle injury.
Thus, Raheem Sterling would continue to play as a center forward in a unique offensive setup.
🇩🇪 #LUFC defender @ RobinKoch25 has been named in Germany's squad to face Turkey, Ukraine and Switzerland pic.twitter.com/R692OeQeQY
- Leeds United (@LUFC) October 2, 2020
Leeds
, in that sense, has a natural center forward like Bamford, who this Saturday will seek to score a goal for the fourth consecutive date and match what was done in 2004 by Australian Mark Viduka, the last player to achieve it for Leeds in the Premier League.
Possible formations
Leeds United
: Illan Meslier;
Luke Ayling, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Stuart Dallas;
Kalvin Phillips;
Helder Costa, Mateusz Klich, Tyler Roberts, Ezgjan Alioski;
Patrick Bamford.
DT
: Marcelo Bielsa.
Manchester City
: Ederson;
Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy;
Fernandinho, Rodri;
Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden;
Raheem Sterling.
DT
: Pep Guardiola.
Hours
: 13:30 (Argentine time).
TV
: ESPN 2.
Referee
: Mike Dean.
Stadium
: Elland Road.