They are the Beauty and the Beast of the battle for the Premier League crown.
One insists on all-out attack. Offensive elan is the trademark of his fearless swashbucklers. The other has mastered the art of winning ugly. A tactical triumph is the sweetest source of his satisfaction.
Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho are the respective custodians of Manchester City and Chelsea, the two clubs vying for favouritism in this most intriguing title race. Their management styles are stark in contrast yet both are yielding the same results – namely, victory.
The stylist and the pragmatist: City manager Manuel Pellegrini (left) and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho (right)
Beauty and the Beast: And it's not hard to guess which manager relates to which character
Old foes: Pellegrini and Mourinho previously went head to head while managers in Spain
City have won 14 of their last 16 matches in all competitions while the Blues are on the back of five straight wins for the loss of just one goal.
On Wednesday night, courtesy of their 5-0 FA Cup mauling of Blackburn Rovers, Pellegrini’s side cruised onto 99 goals for the season.
It is a remarkable return given the January juncture. They have scored four or more times on 11 occasions this season, Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United among their victims.
However, rather than curb such endeavour in favour of conservatism, Pellegrini insists the Etihad emphasis will remain on attack, his free-scoring triumvirate of Alvaro Negredo, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero all now fit and firing.
That sounds as an ominous warning to weekend opponents Cardiff City.
Can anyone stop him? Alvaro Negredo already has 21 goals to his name for City this season
Lagging behind: Chelsea's top scorer this season is midfielder Eden Hazard with 10 goals
‘It’s an important amount of goals,’ said the Chilean of his side’s 99 efforts. ‘I repeat when I arrived here it was important to try and win a trophy but in the way this team must play and it’s important for the fans to come here and know that we are going to try and score the most amount of goals we can.’
He added: ‘This is a good moment of the season. I do not know if it is the best - we have another three months and how we end it is very important. And the best way to do it is to try to play every game like a final.’
Mourinho does not subscribe to such adventure, preferring to influence his own ideologies on the narrative of a match.
This, after all, is the man who instructed his Inter Milan players to concede possession to Barcelona to avoid disruption of the formation he felt could win the game.
Not-so-hot shots: While City's stikeforce can't stop scoring, Chelsea's strikers have struggled
Hot and cold: City striker Sergio Aguero (left) and Chelsea frontman Samuel Eto'o (right)
He was, of course, correct and the Italians advanced to the Champions League final where again Mourinho masterminded their triumph over Bayern Munich.
Now, for the second time at Chelsea, that ethos of efficiency is coming to the fore.
The nature of their goalless draw at Arsenal just before Christmas was far from in keeping with the festive spirit, Mourinho’s side strangling the life from a game which had promised so much. They did the same at Old Trafford earlier in the season, again emerging with a valuable point.
Now, though, they have married potency to prudence and, like City, winning is fast becoming a habit.
And so it is that just one point separates the two as they lurk menacingly on the shoulder of early-season pace-setters Arsenal.
And so it is that just one point separates the two as they lurk menacingly on the shoulder of early-season pace-setters Arsenal.
That they have manoeuvred themselves into such territory with contrasting strategies matters not for, as pragmatist Mourinho will remind you, it is in fact the destination and not the journey which matters most.
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