Ruben Amorim lets slip 'difficult' admission Man Utd fans won't want to hear

Ruben Amorim has admitted – while acknowledging it is difficult to hear from Manchester United fans – that Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are the best team and best manager in the world. The Sporting boss is preparing to bid farewell to the José Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday evening when City visit in the Champions League.

Following his latest outing in Lisbon and Sunday's Primeira Liga trip to former club Braga, Amorim will get to work at United on November 11.

He is the sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, tasked with closing the gap on United's bitter rivals.

And the 39-year-old underlined the scale of the challenge as he hailed Tuesday's opponents and future bitter foes.

“For me, it's another game as Sporting coach. I will be judged as Sporting coach,” Amorim told TNT Sports.

“It’s a huge match for me. [Pep Guardiola] is the best coach in the world. I know it's hard for Manchester United fans, [but] I think [City] are the best team in the world.

“So it's going to be a tough game. We're close to qualifying for the play-offs, so this game is very important.

“It's my last match at Alvalade, so that's my goal. Sporting's goals, my last match at Alvalade.

“I know everyone in England is looking and taking ideas for this match. For me it's just that, as Sporting coach, my last match here, so that's my goal.”

It's been an eventful week since United sacked Erik ten Hag last Monday. Amorim was confirmed as the Dutchman's successor on Friday.

The Portuguese coach described last week as “the worst and best” of his life as he struggled to leave Sporting after four transformative years.

Amorim added: “[It’s been] very hard. The worst and best week of my life. I have no other way to explain [it].

“It's very hard because I'm leaving a very good place, but I'm going to one of the best clubs in the world. So it's been very hard, but that's how it is.

“I'm emotional, but not in this part. I know that because I was a player, and I know that in our lives we have to leave, leave and change environments quite often.

“But I'm very emotional in my relationship with the players and the staff. So I have a connection with them. This part will be difficult, but the other part – the last game, everyone is looking at me.

“At the end of the day, this part is not special for me. For me, it's the relationship with the players, and in this part I'm very emotional. The fact of leaving and going to another place , it's the life of a player and a coach.”