Jose Mourinho’s side delayed Manchester City from claiming the Premier League title last season.
Aymeric Laporte admits Pep Guardiola’s side will be seeking revenge as their primary motivation when they welcome Manchester United on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s were just 45 minutes away from the Premier League title with a 2-0 halftime lead. But an astounding second-half comeback from Manchester United put the party on hold. Paul Pogba scored twice inside the 10 minutes of second half stunned Guardiola’s men before Chris Smalling securing 3-2 win at Etihad, putting title celebrations on hold and forcing them to wait another week.
This has not been forgotten in the City changing room, who will have the chance to avenge the defeat.
“There’s always a feeling of revenge any time you lose against any team,” Laporte told Sky Sports.
“We are always ready to compete and need to take advantage of the good momentum of the team at the moment.
“It’s a very important match for two reasons… because it’s the Manchester derby and also because if we win we will put distance between ourselves and them in the table.”
Aymeric Laporte, who joined City from Athletic Bilbao in January and has slowly earned in place in starting XI. He holds the records the longest run without tasting defeat in the Premier League for a new player in the division – Twenty games unbeaten and counting.
“I think it’s a nice record,” Laporte said. “I wasn’t aware until someone told me but obviously it’s exciting for me.”
“Breaking records is always nice. Last season as a team we reached 100 points – that was very nice and this year I have this personal record.”
“I hope we don’t lose on Sunday or not this derby or the following derby. The goal is always to win and lengthen this record as much as we can.”
