Pep Guardiola said that his former coach Mikel Arteta is creating something special at Arsenal that could make the club relive past glories again in the near future.
Both men will sit in opposite dugouts on Saturday, when Arsenal take on the current FA Cup holders Manchester City in the semi-final at Wembley.
Arteta, who re-joined Arsenal as the club's manager back in December last year, had been once tipped as a future successor to Guardiola but is signed to remain with the Gunners until 2023.
On the back of Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night, Guardiola knows that his team must take nothing for granted.
“I expect a terribly tough, tough, tough game because they have something special already. They have team spirit. Mikel has created,” Guardiola said.
“From the outside maybe I’m wrong but what I see in their games, how they celebrate, how they fight for every single ball, they are creating something special for this club. Everybody fights for each other.
“It’s one of the elite clubs in English football of the last 20 or 30 years.
“I’m pretty sure the right person to bring them back to the position of before. There is no better person to do the job than Mikel."
One major difference from Guardiola’s usual FA Cup routine is that City’s number two goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will not play due to injury, so regular first choice Ederson will start.
Arsenal are on the hunt for their first piece of major silverware since they last won the FA Cup under Arséne Wenger back in 2017.
Manchester City on the other hand will be looking clinch their second domestic trophy this season by adding back to back FA Cups, having defeated Watford in a record breaking scoreline 6-0 last season.
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