Ole: We'll treat this as the most important game

The previous Manchester derby with fans present was in March 2020, a matter of days before lockdown began due to the coronavirus pandemic. That day, the Reds famously ran out 2-0 winners over the Blues and when Scott McTominay struck in injury time to confirm our victory, the noise reverberating around the Theatre of Dreams was deafening.

As Ole explains at the end of this exclusive interview for club media, he's hoping for a repeat of that "special, special day" as City cross town for today's lunchtime kick-off...

We know that Raphael Varane is out of the game unfortunately, but do you have any other team news?
“Yeah, we’ve got a couple of players who are doubtful unfortunately, but that’s part of the game. We’ll just have to give them as much time as possible because they are working really hard and they wanted another 24 hours to see if they could be available.”

Eric Bailly really showed us what he can do in Bergamo. How pleased were you with his performance?
“Eric’s trained really well and his performance was really good. He showed that when you’re called upon, if you’ve trained well then you’re ready for it. That’s the point. He must take a lot of heart from that performance, definitely, and we’re happy to have him of course.”

As well as the players in the starting XI, you’ve got some great substitutes that you can rely on. How important is it that they appreciate those minutes they’re getting on the pitch and make the most of them, like you used to do?
“Thanks! [Laughs] That’s your job. You do feel down when you don’t start but you don’t let yourself be disappointed for too long and these boys have done really well. I think we’ve seen many times this season how the subs have come on and made an impact for us. When you want to be part of a big, strong squad challenging for things then you have to patient and also be ready. I couldn’t be more satisfied with them because they’ve really taken that job seriously. I know how they feel and, like I did, they know also how to make the manager think about you the next time you come on.”

Does form go out of the window when you’re thinking of a game like the Manchester derby?
“I think so. It’s been said a lot of times that expression, but I think it is actually true. It’s a one-off game, a derby and anything can happen in these types of games. For us, we’ve picked up form since the last time we were at home and hopefully that can continue. We treat it as a derby and as the most important game in our lives.”

You know how it feels as a player and a manager to win these matches. Are you looking forward to it?
“Of course I am. We’ve had a good record lately. As a player, I didn’t have too good a record, but in the last few games [against City] we’ve really shown that we can have good performances and, as I said, the last couple of results have shown that.”

Finally, we’ve not had fans at a Manchester derby in so long, so are you looking forward to having that atmosphere once again?
“Very much so. That’s one of the best atmospheres I’ve felt, especially in that moment when Scott [McTominay] scored the 2-0 goal. It was the last time we had a full crowd [for a derby]. Of course we’ve had a few decent nights after that as well, but that was a special, special day.”