Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona manager and player revealed that he would never manage rivals Real Madrid. Speaking at a press conference, Guardiola was quick to douse any possible rumours about managing Madrid in the future by stating, “I am a Barcelona fan. I don’t think Real Madrid needs a manager like me and I wouldn’t fit there either.”
The current Manchester City manager won three La Liga crowns plus two Champions League titles in his four years in charge at the Nou Camp. During his time in Spain, the venomous relationship that developed between Madrid and Barcelona can be a pointer to one of the reasons why Guardiola would not accept such an opportunity.
History aside, Pep is one of the club’s legends. Recently, his biographer Marti Perarnau claimed that Real approached Guardiola to take over whilst Rafa Benitez was still in charge. However, Pep has made his intentions clear and was quick to quell such rumours. The interesting bit though is that Pep refused to deny a possible Madrid approach.
Lifelong supporter
Terming himself as a lifelong supporter of Barcelona, Pep’s reasons are understandable. Lauded as one of the best pupils of Johann Cruyff, Pep has been instrumental in developing the tiki-taka model of the Catalan team as well.
Although, there has been a twist to the story with Florentino Perez, with the Real Madrid President claiming that, “Real Madrid called Pep Guardiola to try and tempt him last November before they sacked Benitez”.
At the time, Real Madrid was going through a tough patch. Performances were poor and there was acrimony among the players and coach, Rafa Benitez. As a result, Perez felt imperative to make a change at the helm and reached out to his contacts.
Perez ended up appointing Zinedine Zidane instead. However, the President did reiterate the impracticality of the move right from the start stating, “Madrid contacted [Josep Maria] Orobitg, Guardiola's agent, in order to try and contract him. But from the start, it was out of the question. I was there.”
The 45-year old has been under pressure after a great start at Manchester City. His team’s recent run of six games without a win is a new situation for the Catalan. Having managed the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, clubs which steamroll opponents in their respective domestic leagues, Pep has found the going tough in some aspects.
However, one expects a turnaround in results soon. Manchester City as a side has been impressive in recent times, with the side looking to play some enterprising football. City takes on West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Saturday and will look to get that overdue win.
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