Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has played down the impending Pep Guardiola vs. Jose Mourinho clash in the Manchester derby, insisting that the game is big enough on its own.
Guardiola and Mourinho joined City and United respectively this summer and will meet first on Sept. 10 at the Etihad after the Premier League fixtures were revealed on Wednesday.
And Kompany, working as an analyst for ESPN in France, is sure the fixture will take centre stage over the new managers.
"For me it's always United vs. City, first and foremost," he told ESPN FC. "That is bigger than any names in the game, to me. It's never bad to throw a little bit of hot sauce on the barbeque when you've already got it on full flames but it's already one of the biggest fixtures in world football.
"If there's a little bit of a personal battle as well then that will only add to a fixture that is already great in itself."
Kompany started just 13 Premier League games for City last season after suffering a series of injuries, but is confident he can return better than ever next season.
"I'm just keen to get my boots back on and do whatever it takes to make this team better," he said. "There is no one who has relished the challenge of making us better than I have and I love the idea of helping us to reach another level.
"But it's one thing to talk about it and another to do all the groundwork to get there. That's actually what I'm looking forward to.
"People struggle and never come back; I struggle and I played every game at a very high level. I didn't play one bad game last season. In a way, that's not enough, but I am very confident in my own ability to be stronger than anything else that stands in my way.
"I am the kind of person who will always play a role, no matter what situation I find myself in. Obviously, on the pitch I'm better. But when it comes to this [mentality] I'm unbreakable. And that's why I keep coming back."