Jose Mourinho praises Pep Guardiola ahead of El Clasico meeting
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has showered praise over his Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola ahead of the teams' derby encounter on Monday 29 November.
The build-up to the El Clasico always generates plenty of discussion in the media, perhaps more than ever after the talkative Mourinho joined Real this summer.
The increase in coverage has led Guardiola to ban all his players from speaking to the press ahead of the game, while Mourinho has chosen to speak as freely as he normally would.
But rather than slandering his team's opponents, Mourinho has praised the work of Guardiola, a former Barcelona player under whose management the club has won two league titles and one Champions League trophy in the past two seasons.
"If I were Barca president Sandro Rosell I'd give [Guardiola] a contract for the next 50 years," the Real boss told
Fifa.com. "Because he's a club man who's been steeped in the Barcelona way since birth. He knows the place inside out and he knows the kind of football that Barcelona fans want. He's the ideal man to coach Barcelona for as long as he wants to."
Mourinho saw Guardiola's coaching potential early on
Mourinho also revealed he had always thought Guardiola, captain of Barcelona during the Portuguese's spell at the club as interpreter and then assistant coach between 1996 and 2000, would become a successful manager later in his career.
"We used to work together at Barca and I have only positive memories of that period. Now we're rival coaches but I get the feeling that we respect each other. In my view that's a good thing, and it'd be perfect if it stayed that way. I first
said he'd end up being an excellent head coach years ago."
Real, who are unbeaten this season, could extend their lead over Guardiola's team to four points if victorious on Monday.
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