Guardiola-Mourinho Rivalry to Resume September 10

Manchester City will open the Premier League season on August 13 at home against Sunderland a side that has narrowly avoided relegation each of the last four seasons. The Blues will face Pep Guardiola's first Manchester Derby on September 10 against Jose Mourinho's Manchester United at Old Trafford. Guardiola and Mourinho are old nemesis. The rivalry was forged when Mourinho was passed over for the Barcelona job in Guardiola's favor with current City Football Group CEO Ferran Soriano playing a major role in the decision of the Catalan club.

Mourinho bested Guardiola while at Inter over two legs in April 2010 to advance to the UEFA Champions League Final. But after winning the Champions League, Mourinho moved to Real Madrid and was regularly beaten by Guardiola's Barcelona including over two legs in  the UEFA Champions League in April 2011. It was after that tie that Mourinho famously complained of a "plot" to help Barcelona in Europe. It was fair to claim at the time that the Catalan club seemed to be getting fortuitous calls in matches particularly against Chelsea in 2009 and Arsenal in 2011, but they had soundly beaten Mourinho's Real Madrid side on the night the controversial manager made this claim.

The two rivals who dueled in the media during Mourinho's Real Madrid tenure being in the same city managing rival clubs will potentially make the Manchester Derby a tastier fixture than anytime in recent memory. The remainder of Manchester City's Premier League fixture list for 2016-17 can be found here.