Aitor Karanka used to be a player during the time that Pep Guardiola was a player as well, they have always been rivals who played for Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Karanka has been studying Guardiola his whole professional life both as a player and a manager. That is the reason why when Guardiola got to defeat Barcelona this past week in the Champions League, Karanka wasn't at all surprised.
Talking to the press, Aitor first spoke about his side's match against Bournemouth and their next challenge against Manchester City: "Bournemouth was an important game [a 2-0 win last Saturday] and our performance was good. We have recovered our consistency on the pitch. The atmosphere is different and the players are more confident. But we have to keep going - we know how tough this league is.
"We've been working three years to play this kind of game against Manchester City. We're really looking forward to it. Pep Guardiola is showing how good he is and his team is. But we have to think about how well we played at Arsenal and what we can do. The way City played against Barcelona wasn't a surprise to me - they have amazing players. It is a mistake to think it will be easy. But if we play in our style we will have our chances."
Photo credit: Manchester City FC