Pep Guardiola is not the type of manager who will blindly subscribe to clichés about English football, as a comment at a recent press conference demonstrated.
When asked if the intensity of the Premier League harmed English teams' prospects in Europe, Guardiola questioned whether, in fact, the intensity in England is any different to Spain or Germany.
"I hear a lot of times about the intensity in the Premier League when none of you have been in La Liga or the Bundesliga to know how intense it is," he said. "Here the problem is maybe there are more games, but the way they play in Germany, for example, is amazing."
Another accepted cliché about English football, however, is that the level of physicality is fiercer than anywhere else in Europe. Traditionally, English referees are more lenient and more teams play long ball football, providing continental players and coaches with a different type of test. It would be interesting to know whether Guardiola subscribes to this view - and it would be even more fascinating to discover if his approach changes after this weekend.