Guardiola defends Wenger regarding Mourinho jibe

Pep Guardiola has leapt to the defence of Arsene Wenger in the wake of a tongue-lashing from Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Wenger found himself in a war of words with the Blues manager after suggesting there was a ‘fear of failure’ at Stamford Bridge, in turn being labelled a ‘specialist in failure’ by an irked Mourinho.

But Guardiola has defended Wenger, who is without a trophy of any sort in nine years now, claiming the Frenchman is doing a fine job at Arsenal.

The Bayern Munich boss said, “This life is not just about winning trophies.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Arsenal compete with huge teams. Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City – they are all important teams. But Arsenal remains a good team and a good club.

“I have a lot of respect for my colleague Arsene. He always likes the good, good players, the good style of football.”

Guardiola has conceded that Bayern will be considered favourites for the clash between the two in the Champions League round of 16, but has warned against any complacency from his side.

“If we let them have the ball, then we are going to suffer. So we have to make sure we monopolise the ball.

“I learned you can never dominate for 90 minutes against Arsenal. You can dominate for certain moments, but with these quality players at Arsenal, we have a problem.

“Arsenal are not a new team in this competition. I am pretty sure they will play to win the game, not for a 0-0.

“I know we are favourites, I can’t deny that. But I have to handle that, to live every game, to accept we are favourites.

“I would like to live without these feelings, but it’s impossible. I handled it before at Barcelona, but we start 0-0, so now we have to show our level.”

Bayern Munich have averaged 61% possession in their Bundesliga matches this season and connected with 88% of their passes.