‘Pep Guardiola on the secret of Man City: “We are in the same direction, me, the CEO, the sporting directors, the chairman. That is why I think the club is so stable”.’

When asked about the difference between United and City after Sunday’s game at Old Trafford, Guardiola said: ‘I know what we have done but I don’t know what United have done because I’m not here.

‘But I didn’t expect it, honestly, when I arrived here it was Jose Mourinho, with Ibrahimovic, with top, top players, Lukaku, I’ve had the feeling the squad is really…

‘But I think I’ve said many times we [City] are in the same direction – the chairman, the CEO, the sporting director, the manager and the players.

‘We go there, wrong or right, it doesn’t matter, we [all] go there. We make mistakes, of course, when we lose or the situation is not going well, we are not here to blame someone, it’s just, ‘okay, what do we have to do better? What happened? Is the opponent getting better or are we getting worse?’. Find a solution, that is nice.

‘We’ve done it since day one. First season we didn’t win, I didn’t feel my chairman complain, absolutely not, he supported me unconditionally.

‘I remember we lost the Champions League final against Chelsea, I was devastated and the chairman said, ‘sooner or later we’re going to win it, what do we have to do next?’.

‘With that everybody feels that the club relies on me, the players know we rely on them, but when it happens we’re not over-excited when we win and when we lose it’s not dramatic, it’s not that we’re going to kill ourselves. It’s a football game, what do you have to do to get better.

‘We have done many times, when another opponent beats you, you congratulate them and we try it again. That’s why I think the club, the organisation, is so stable.’