is second tenure as coach ended in messy circumstances after he submitted a scathing report in which he slammed Shahid Afri

It only seems like the number of subplots equal the number of all-time meetings as the 172nd edition of the Manchester derby is set for Saturday at Old Trafford when United and City put their unblemished records on the line.The teams have spent lavishly, both on players and managers. And the touchline will be watched as closely as the action on the pitch as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola renew acquaintances, and potentially hostilities as a citys bragging rights are at stake as well as a spot at the top of the Premier League standings.The two have circled each other before, though this time the 4.3 miles separating the two stadia of Manchester makes Saturday a far more intimate affair than the 310 that buffered them between Real Madrid and Barcelona.Mourinho has always worn the black hat in this rivalry ever since 2008 when The Special One was passed over by Barcelonas front office and ownership for Guardiola, the former Catalan defender who was elevated from coaching Barcas B squad. That enmity will carry over into this match since Guardiola has been reunited with many of Barcelonas key personnel at Manchester City (3-0-0).Guardiola has the upper hand in the head-to-head matches between the two that span five teams (Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea for Mourinho; Barcelona and Bayern Munich for Guardiola), winning seven and drawing six of the 16 all-time matches, highlighted by Barcas clinical 5-0 demolition of Real Madrid in Mourinhos first El Clasico match in 2010.The antagonism between the two intensified in 2011 over four matches in a 17-day stretch during which Mourinho won the Copa del Rey before Guardiola exacted his revenge by bouncing him from the Champions League in a two-legged semifinal. Their matches in Spain took on good against evil overtones, with Guardiolas flowing Barca offence trying to overcome the cynical punishing play of Reals defence and counterattack.The two have succeeded at the highest club levels with their differing philosophies, Mourinho climbing every managerial rung scraping to win titles 90 minutes at a time with a pragmatic approach that varies depending on the opposition. Park the bus, hit on the counter, buy the best stars, the Portuguese manager has always succeeded in the short term as his players fully bought into his us-versus-the-world mentality.Guardiola, on the other hand, believes in the system -- his system -- honed on his relentlessly inquisitive nature and desire for the aesthetically pleasing football his mentor Johan Cryuff espoused while building Barcelona into a global powerhouse. While it did not result in a Champions League trophy in his three seasons at Bayern Munich, it did get them to the semifinals each year. Its also the foundation of success Manchester City desperately sought in their five-year courtship with him before he finally agreed to take over the blue side of the city last Christmas after his run in the Bundesliga.Both teams, in addition to Mourninhos former charges at Chelsea, claimed the maximum nine points in three matches before the international break. Manchester City have scored a league-high nine goals, Manchester United (3-0-0) have conceded a league-best one. Thus, this match has all the makings of the irresistible force trying to break down the immovable object.But the primary person for Manchester City scoring nine goals through three matches will not be available for Guardiola. Sergio Aguero, who has three of those strikes, will serve the first of his retroactive three-match ban for elbowing Winston Reid.Aguero also has eight goals in nine lifetime matches versus United, leaving a huge hole at the top of the attack, but Guardiola does not lack for options. Teenage starlet Kelechi Iheanacho could get his first league start, while Nolito could also be moved from the wing in a bid to add to his two goals thus far. Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling also are candidates to be shifted into a potential false nine position that would mirror Barcelonas attack under Guardiola.A third option would be giving playmaker Leroy Sane his first start since his signing from German side Schalke 04 over the summer. Sane has been dealing with a hamstring injury, but has been practising with the team and available for selection.For United in attack, it will revolve around mercurial striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored three goals in the first two wins and has shown little wear of his 34 years since arriving at Old Trafford on a free transfer this summer. But this is also a personal grudge match for Swedens all-time leading scorer, who has a long history with Guardiola -- and none of it is good.The two had a falling out while at Barcelona, with Ibrahimovic famously labeling Guardiola as a spineless coward in his 2015 autobiography I Am Zlatan with regards to their personal dealings, or lack thereof if you were to believe Ibrahimovic. In a CNN interview last November, Ibrahimovic went one step further, saying, As a coach, he was fantastic. As a person, thats something else. Hes not a man, theres nothing more to say.Additionally, the Swedes affinity for Mourinho -- the two won the Serie A title and Italian SuperCup with Inter Milan in 2009 -- doubles as a fanatical devotion to his manager. And a motivated Ibra is quite the dangerous Ibra.He is a winner and I see myself as a winner, Ibrahimovic said in an interview with the BBC about Mourinho. Wherever he went with different teams, he won. Hes direct with everyone. Hes not a coach who goes behind you and tells you behind your back. He will tell you if you are not good enough.Ibrahimovic has also shown a good link-up chemistry with talisman Wayne Rooney, who has a goal and two assists thus far. He has 11 goals in 27 lifetime clashes with City, including four match-winners.Entering the Old Trafford cauldron for a Manchester derby is a daunting task for anyone, but Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will be doing so in his club debut after being signed from Barcelona before the close of the transfer window. Reunited with Guardiola from his days with the Catalan side, the Chile international has replaced the departed Joe Hart, whose ball distribution skills were not conducive to Guardiolas needs.But the two-time Copa America winner stands only six feet tall between the sticks. With Ibrahimovic a towering figure at 6-foot-5, Belgium international Marouane Fellaini at 6-4, powerfully built midfielder Paul Pogba at 6-3 and Eric Bailly 6-2, corner kicks could resemble a forest as United will undoubtedly look to exploit City -- notably central defender John Stones -- through the air.United have won 71 matches and City have claimed 49, with the teams splitting the remaining 51. The Red Devils took four of six points between the teams last season, posting clean sheets in both matches. United won 1-0 at the Etihad in the most recent encounter, with teenager Marcus Rashford scoring just after the quarter-hour. Wholesale Custom Wizards Shirts . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Cheap Custom Wizards Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. http://www.customwizardsjersey.com/custom-gilbert-arenas-jersey-large-72j.html . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Custom Gilbert Arenas Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Custom Wizards T-shirts . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has revealed that he contemplated quitting as the teams coach in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal in 2010, in which three of the teams players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir - received jail sentences and lengthy bans from the game. Speaking on the sixth episode of ESPNcricinfo Talking Cricket, to be aired on Friday on Sony ESPN, Waqar admitted the experience was sickening for the entire team.We all were very upset with the whole episode and everyone was down and out, and we couldnt really play the next day, Waqar said. I still remember... the late Yawar Saeed was the manager, and he was very upset and we couldnt do anything and it was very, very ugly.Even at one stage, I thought thats it, do I really want to work, do I really want to carry on with this whole thing? I went back and I spoke to my family and I couldnt really leave the team at the time. I went back and thought about it and I wanted to back these guys. Its not their fault, its maybe one or two who have done it, but the rest, they dont deserve all this and if I leave now, its going to get worse. Then, Misbah [ul-Haq] took over [as captain] and things started sort of rolling better and we did extremely well after that.Recalling his conversation with Amir after his infamous no-ball in the Lords Test, Waqar said he expressed bewilderment at how much Amir had overstepped. Look, when the whole thing happened, we were in a very good situation, Waqar said. That was the first morning of the Test match and they were five down when the whole thing happened, and they came out and then I sort of asked him [Amir] what the hell was that, there were couple of no-balls, and not the small no-balls, they were like a huge no-balls.That was more surprising for me [because he didnt have a history of bowling no-balls]. Salman Butt, of course, jumped in and he said, I told him to do it because Jonathan Trott was batting, and he said he was coming down the track and I thought of [asking him to] just bang in a couple short, dont worry about the no-ball.This is the answer I got from the captain, and, of course, from the bowler, and I bought it. Any coach, if you ask him if this is a tactic or captain tells you that this is a tactic, you will say, yeah, okay, fair enough.Waqar said he feltt especially let down by Butt, who was the teams captain then, but sympathised with Amirs position.dddddddddddd Amir was very, very down and why I feel for him is that because he was only like 17 then or 18, very young and from a very humble background, very poor background, he said. Someone who has been asked to do certain things for, you know, such a big amount, thats how I take it.Amirs reintegration into the side met with resistance from the likes of Mohammad Hafeez, but Waqar said he, and even Butt and Asif, deserved a second chance. It was a mistake and every human being... we are here, we make mistakes and we get punished for that and then the society and the culture give them that room again to come and be himself again, he said. He [Amir] could have achieved what even I didnt or even Wasim didnt achieve.He suffered a lot for five years, and my religion also says that if someone has done something and has been punished and the entire society has punished him for all these years, he deserves a chance. And, the same way, I feel that Salman Butt deserves a chance, Mohammad Asif deserves a chance. They have been through all the punishment they deserve.Waqar resigned as coach in April following Pakistans dismal showing at the Asia Cup and World T20. His second tenure as coach ended in messy circumstances after he submitted a scathing report in which he slammed Shahid Afridis style of captaincy and was critical of the PCBs decision of not giving him a say in the selection process, and the report was made public. Asked if he saw himself returning to a role with the Pakistan set-up, Waqar said both he and the PCB needed some time away from each other.I think we both need to step away from each other, he said. The cricket board also needs a little bit of space from me because Ive spoken a lot about it and I have spoken out of hurt because I feel that things need to change. If things wont change, we will be crying in maybe couple of years time. So, maybe see how it goes in the next year or so and then decide, but Im always around the game anyway.Watch ESPNcricinfo Talking Cricket at 9.30pm IST on Fridays, and the repeat at 12pm on Sundays, on SONY ESPN ' ' '