Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has played down talk of a feud with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, saying he “loves” his former colleague and cannot control attempts to “damage” their friendship.
Speaking on Friday before City’s trip to Newcastle, Guardiola said he had been provoked into a “war” with Arsenal following last Sunday’s action-packed 2-2 draw between the teams at Etihad Stadium.
Arteta, responding to accusations from several City players of employing ‘dark arts’ to defend a 2-1 second-half lead, told reporters on Tuesday that he had “all the information” on them following his three-and-a-half year spell as Guardiola’s assistant – comments which also upset the City boss.
“I’ve admired him since I was 10 years old,” Arteta said on Saturday. “I respect him profoundly. I’m so grateful for everything he did for me and continues to do for me.
“If someone wants to damage the relationship, that’s not in my hands. The feeling [of affection] is profound. [Guardiola] knows it, the staff know it because I still [speak] with them today, and with the board, the ownership – with everyone.”
Arteta’s latest comments came after his side scored twice in stoppage time to earn a dramatic 4-2 victory at home to Leicester.
“The positive energy is feeding out of the club at the moment,” former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott told Final Score. “It is even bigger to get the win because Man City dropped points [at Newcastle] today.
“In my time [at Arsenal], there was an element of: ‘Can we do it?’ What Mikel has instilled is that belief that they will do it.”
After the verbal jousting between Arteta and Guardiola this week, BBC Sport takes a look at some of the Premier League’s other big managerial rivalries down the years.
Pep Guardiola v Jose Mourinho
This epic rivalry began in Spain, coming to a head when Guardiola’s Barcelona took on Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the 2011 Champions League semi-final.
Mourinho accused Guardiola of criticising referees, to which Guardiola delivered an expletive-laden response. “Off the pitch, he has already won. I award him a Champions League trophy for victories in the press room,” he added.
The two managers locked horns again in the Premier League while Mourinho was in charge of Manchester United, with Guardiola’s City winning three of the teams’ six meetings during the Portuguese’s Old Trafford tenure.
Mourinho’s team were City’s closest pursuers in 2017-18 as they finished second – but he was sacked after a poor start to the following campaign.
Antonio Conte v Jose Mourinho
Never one to hold back post-match – particularly if his team had just been beaten – Mourinho exchanged words with Conte moments after a humiliating 4-0 defeat on his return to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United in October 2016, apparently unhappy with the Italian’s celebrations towards the end of the game.
The following season, Mourinho accused some of his managerial rivals of “acting like clowns” on the touchline – in an apparent dig at Conte and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Conte responded by reminding Mourinho of his own misdemeanours during his managerial career. He took things a step further in 2018, calling the Portuguese “a little man” and “fake”.
Sir Alex Ferguson v Rafael Benitez
Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool were top of the Premier League in early 2009 but Sir Alex Ferguson’s United were hot on their heels in second.
Benitez appeared to crack under the pressure during a bizarre press conference in January, during which the Spaniard produced a list of “facts” relating to Ferguson’s apparent influence over match officials and the football authorities.
Ferguson’s team, as they so often did, would come out on top at the end of the campaign, finishing four points ahead of Liverpool.
He later wrote in his autobiography: “The mistake [Benitez] made was to turn our rivalry personal. Once you made it personal, you had no chance. I had success on my side.”
Arsene Wenger v Sam Allardyce
In stylistic terms, Arsenal and Bolton were at opposite ends of the football spectrum in the mid 2000s – the Gunners were free-flowing and fluid, the Trotters were physical and direct.
However, Arsenal won only one of their eight matches against Bolton between September 2004 and February 2007, with Allardyce’s side victorious in four of those games. The rivalry continued during Allardyce’s time at Blackburn.
In his autobiography, Allardyce wrote: “I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton. We’d really got to them and Arsene Wenger hated us.”
Speaking in December 2016, Wenger admitted that a 2-2 draw at Bolton in 2003 – which cost the Gunners dearly in the title race – still hurt him, saying: “You have awkward moments and you never forget them. It’s a scar on your heart.”
Jose Mourinho v Arsene Wenger
Bold, brash, backed by Roman Abramovich’s millions and – in his own words – “special”, Mourinho was always likely to succeed at Stamford Bridge after arriving in June 2004.
There always seemed to be a mutual respect between Mourinho and Ferguson – less so between the Portuguese and Wenger.
Branded a “voyeur” by Mourinho after criticising his negative tactics in 2005, Wenger said the Chelsea boss was “out of order” and “disconnected with reality”.
The feud continued when Mourinho returned for a second spell at Stamford Bridge in 2013, with the Portuguese calling Wenger a “specialist in failure”. In 2014, the pair had to be separated on the touchline during a heated encounter between the two London rivals.
Sir Alex Ferguson v Arsene Wenger
The Premier League was dominated by Manchester United and Arsenal in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the two teams winning every title between 1996 and 2004.
English football fans knew little about Wenger prior to his appointment as Arsenal manager in October 1996, but the Frenchman was quick to make an impression – and ruffle one or two feathers among his rivals.
After Wenger had suggested that a rule change to the fixture scheduling would benefit United, a furious Ferguson retorted: “He has no experience of English football. He has come from Japan and now he is telling us how to organise our football.
“Unless you have been in the situation and had the experience, then he should keep his mouth shut – firmly shut.”
Sir Alex Ferguson v Kevin Keegan
Having held a 12-point lead over Manchester United in January 1996, Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle were being chased down by Ferguson’s relentless Red Devils during the second half of the campaign.
As the season entered its final straight, Ferguson suggested that Leeds and Nottingham Forest – two of Newcastle’s final three opponents – would not try as hard against the Magpies as they would against his own team.
Keegan snapped, telling Sky Sports after his team’s win over Leeds: “[Ferguson] went down in my estimation when he said that. I’d love it if we beat them – love it.”
United would end the season four points clear of Keegan’s team.