Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella has heaped praise on Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge. The Spaniard, who joined Chelsea from Brighton in the summer, spoke highly of Guardiola's impact on Barcelona's philosophy, despite never having worked directly under him.
Cucurella, who joined Barcelona's academy in 2012, the same year Guardiola left the club, acknowledged the lasting legacy the Catalan coach left behind. He told Sky Sports: 'He changed the mentality at Barcelona. Before Guardiola, Barcelona were a good team and when he came, they changed the philosophy, they played amazing football - I think one of the best teams in the history of football.'
The 25-year-old highlighted how Guardiola's influence extended to the club's youth system, noting that the philosophy in the Barcelona academy changed to mirror the first team's style. Cucurella added: 'The philosophy in the Barcelona academy changed because all the teams, they play the same style, the same formation with the same mentality and I think this is very good. We can see they do the same here at Manchester City.'
City head into the fixture on a five-match winning streak in all competitions, having secured their place in the Champions League last-16 with a 3-0 win over Young Boys. They are guaranteed to remain top of the Premier League table with a victory, regardless of other results. City have won the last six meetings between the two clubs without conceding a goal.
Cucurella, who has faced Guardiola at events but has no personal relationship with him, described the City boss as 'a very good person'. He concluded: 'Not for me personally but in my academy stage, they showed me a lot because they changed their mentality and a lot of things I can learn are from his ideas that he brought to Barcelona.'
