Pep Guardiola insists he will shake hands with arch rival Jose mourinho at Mondays Manchester dearby.
Manchester rivals City and United come face-to-face in the Chinese capital in a game that pits old foes Guardiola and Mourinho against each other for the first time since their rivalry in Spain.
Guardiola and Mourinho became sworn enemies when the pair were in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, the pair clashing frequently as their rivalry turned toxic.
But ahead of Monday’s encounter at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, Guardiola said he would observe the pre and post-match ritual by shaking hands with Mourinho.
“Of course,” said Guardiola. “We are polite guys. Why not?
“Why shouldn’t I shake hands with him? No reason why not. He wants to win, I want to win.
“It’s a friendly game, a really friendly game.
The game is in doubt with torrential rain forecast overnight and on Monday, with the pitch already in a terrible condition.
Both teams were forced to switch their pre-match training sessions to Beijing’s Olympic Sports Centre to preserve the pitch at the Bird’s Nest to give the game every chance of going ahead.
Against that backdrop, Guardiola admitted his biggest concern was getting through the encounter without any of his City players getting injured.
Guardiola welcomed the likes of Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling back into his ranks after their summer international excursions.
And when asked what he hoped to get out of the game against United on Monday, Guardiola said: “No injuries.
Eric Kinoti 