Derbies are usually couched as regional competitions. There’s the North London Derby, of course. There’s the Manchester Derby. There’s Tyne-Wear (Newcastle vs. Sunderland), Merseyside Derby (Everton vs. Liverpool), and all sorts of London derbies.
Normally, you wouldn’t consider Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City to be the kind of rivalry that you would call a derby. Until now! Miguel Delaney dug up a cover of Deportivo Mundo from the mid-2000s, the last time Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino met in a competition. Pep was managing Barcelona and Poche was with Espanyol. And they had the best name for it: El Derbi Guapo.
Different times, different hairstyles... different gear. Pochettino's suit: pic.twitter.com/8ZYAORplH7
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) September 30, 2016
It’s a play on words, right? The managers are Pep GUArdiola, and Mauricio POchettino, see? GUA-PO. Get it?
Plus they’re both staggeringly handsome men.
Look at those two! It’s amazing what a difference ten years can make. Pep still has hair, and Pochettino, wearing what appears to be a purple velour suit, looks like walked right off the set of A Night at the Roxbury. Now both men are a little bit craggier, a little bit greyer. But if you ask me they’re still pretty guapo.
It’s nice to know that El Derbi Guapo is set to restart this season. Spurs and City might not have the long history of antagonism that some of the other English derbies might have, but it’s likely the only derby that will make you sweaty for more than just the football on the pitch. It’s a good thing this match is on a Sunday, for when it’s done I think a lot of folks will need to get to church.