They are the purist and the pragmatist, a seemingly deliberately dour figure and a box-office draw with a surfeit of charisma. They are enemies and opposites, especially tonight.
The chances are good that either Manuel Pellegrini or Jose Mourinho will end the season as a Premier League champion. So tonight is pivotal in the clash of philosophies and personalities.
Mourinho delights in sniping at Pellegrini, his predecessor at Real Madrid, and putting the pressure on the Manchester City manager by suggesting the Chilean's side ought to win the league.
Pellegrini prefers to ignore his Chelsea counterpart; he avoided the customary post-match handshake following October's 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge and insisted last week: "I never comment on anything Mourinho says."
It had unwitting echoes of Arsene Wenger's attempts to forget Sir Alex Ferguson at the height of their feud – "I will never answer any questions any more about this man" – except that this is a rivalry where only one man has taken potshots at the other. Pellegrini's preference has always been to say nothing.
If he, beneath the bland public persona, is actually a skilled man-manager and Mourinho, while rarely deemed an instinctively attacking manager, had a Real Madrid team that scored 121 league goals in season, it is a reminder that stereotypes can be simplistic.
Mourinho is building a Chelsea side around the flair of Oscar and Eden Hazard and accused West Ham United of "cheating" and playing football "from the 19th century" in Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
But he was unapologetic about drawing 0-0 away at Manchester United and Arsenal this season and remains the architect of England's stingiest defence.
Chelsea conceded only 15 times in the 2004/05 season.
But the attacking records beckon for Pellegrini. His City side have scored 115 goals in all competitions this season.
They are on course for a Premier League record of 112 goals. Whereas Mourinho's first Chelsea group were the masters of 2-0 and 1-0 wins, Pellegrini's team have triumphed by the latter scoreline only once this season. They have more 6-0 victories.
"Maybe it's more difficult to win titles but I think that's the best way to it," Pellegrini said.
He has been adamant his attacking principles have been a constant in his career. Without explicitly criticising others, he positions himself on the moral high ground with his idealistic ethos.
"There is not one truth in football," he said. "Maybe playing the other way a lot of managers do, they win titles. Everyone can do what they want."
Certainly, the idiosyncratic Mourinho would concur with that. He has never been one to toe the line.
Much as Roman Abramovich may desire a team that plays like Barcelona – or, indeed, City – Mourinho's preference is for the counter-attack, rather than an all-out onslaught.
His methods are undeniably successful. Mourinho's past 10 full seasons have brought seven league titles.
Pellegrini's decade in Europe is yet to produce one although, as he points out, it is unrealistic to expect Villarreal or Malaga to win the Spanish rimera Liga.
Mourinho, with a jibe at his predecessor's record at Madrid, said in 2011: "Second is just first of those of who finish last."
It is a view he may amend if Chelsea are runners-up. The first draft of history, uttered regularly by Mourinho, is that City, having spent the most and with players at the peak of their careers, have the best side.
The alternative theory is that Chelsea possess the finest manager. If so, it is a question whether tactics or talent proves the determining factor.
The chances are that Mourinho will be formulating a plan to stop City whereas Pellegrini, as ever, will ignore the opposition and simply focus on his side's progressive play.
He tries to be a man apart from the managerial mind games, whereas Mourinho's record in the psychological warfare rivals his various sides' efforts on the pitch.
"I don't want this game to be a thing about Mourinho and me," Pellegrini said.
Yet it is.
Mourinho is the individual with style while Pellegrini has the team to please the aesthetes.
The Portuguese makes the headlines with cutting words, but the Chilean hurts opposing defences with his eviscerating attack.
One loves the limelight, the other looks to avoid it. They are compelling contrasts.
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