Man United and set to face Man City in the first Manchester derby of the season on Sunday afternoon
Jose Mourinho of Manchester United walks off after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on December 10, 2017 in Manchester, England.
Pep Guardiola apologised for the fight breaking out at Old Trafford(Image: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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Pep Guardiola once apologised for a derby win that caused a major fight to break out in Manchester United's dressing room - but insisted that the plan was to just celebrate the victory. Manchester City, who are now managed by Enzo Maresca following Guardiola's departure this summer, will travel to face their rivals on Sunday afternoon.
The fixture is one filled with chaos, with several fights breaking out over the years. One such scrap occurred in 2017 when Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were in charge.
The Spaniard had been at the Etihad Stadium for a year, getting a win and a draw in his first two Manchester derbies. During the December 2017 clash, Nicolas Otamendi's winner extended his side's lead over their rivals to 11 points at the top of the Premier League table.
However, City's celebrations at Old Trafford annoyed Mourinho, who believed they went too far on the day. He was involved in a heated discussion with opposition goalkeeper Ederson and even more chaos broke out afterwards.
The United boss had milk thrown at him, and Mikel Arteta - who was part of Guardiola's coaching staff at the time - was cut by a drinks container. Up to 20 players and staff were reportedly involved in the post-match fracas and Guardiola apologised, but didn't take responsibility for causing the fight.
He said: "We have to enjoy those moments. If the people cannot understand that then I'm sorry. We won a derby. If we were not correct then I apologise to all of Manchester United. Our intentions was not that. It was to celebrate inside the locker room."
Manchester City's English midfielder Fabian Delph (2R) celebrates with teammates at the end of the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on December 10, 2017.
The City players celebrations ended up causing some heated reaction(Image: Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images)
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Two days later, Mourinho claimed that the derby debate took away from United's pre-Bournemouth press conference. Discussing Guardiola's words, the Portuguese manager said: "He says, he says. I'm not here to comment on his words.
"The only thing I can say is that for me [it] was just a question of diversity, diversity in behaviours, diversity in education, just that and nothing more than that. This press conference is pre-Bournemouth, it's not post-Manchester City, that was already done, and this press conference is pre-Bournemouth. I know but I keep saying this is pre-Bournemouth."
Now, it is Maresca versus Michael Carrick as the Italian looks to regain bragging rights after United won last time out. The Reds won 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to strikes from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu, helping them finish third at the end of the 2025/26 season.