Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso, from Basque team-mates to Premier League rivals as Arsenal face Chelsea | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso, friends since childhood in San Sebastián, meet as Premier League managers when Arsenal play Chelsea on Sunday at 17:30.

According to L'Équipe, it will be their first managerial meeting in the Premier League, elevating a capital clash into a reunion years in the making.

The pair starred together for Antiguoko in the mid-1990s, aged between 10 and 13, a small neighbourhood club with a big reputation.

Back then they dominated Basque youth football, beating Athletic Bilbao’s under-13s and brushing aside Real Sociedad’s contemporaries.

Their paths then split, one heading to Barcelona, the other joining Real Sociedad’s academy, before careers that ultimately placed them in charge of London’s two biggest clubs nearly 30 years later.

Source: L'Équipe

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