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What's the story?
Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari has hit out at Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after the Spaniard left out the Los Bancos from his list of best teams in European football over the last decade.
Solari, who was visibly unhappy with Guardiola's list, said the omission was "deliberate" on the part of the City manager.
In case you didn't know
Despite Real Madrid having won three Champions League titles in a row, Guardiola left the Los Blancos out of his list of the best European teams in the last decade. Instead, he insisted that Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus are the three best teams and their formula of success, the Catalan added, is something that Manchester City should aspire to emulate.
"I've said many times: who are the best teams in the last decade? Juventus, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. These are the three best teams in Europe. Why? Because every season they win the league, every season they win the cups, every season they are there. Because they are the best," Guardiola had said last week.
Guardiola's omission of Real Madrid is surprising, after the Los Blancos won three consecutive Champions League titles under Zinedine Zidane. Of course, Real Madrid have struggled since the departures of Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, they have managed to churn out impressive results since the appointment of Solari as the caretaker manager.
The heart of the matter
Responding to Guardiola's statement, Solari said, "I think it's a deliberate omission. We're not going to fight about one decade when Real Madrid is the best club of last century and in the history of the game."
He added, "I think the omission of Real Madrid is deliberate. But we are not going to argue about one decade or another when Real Madrid is the best club of the century, and in history. And also in the last decade, anyway. It’s because Real don't underestimate any rival.”
Many would argue with Solari's statement that Guardiola's omission of Real Madrid from the list was deliberate, since the Spaniard for three four seasons was at the helm of Barcelona, which shares a strong rivarly with Real Madrid.
What's next?
Real Madrid currently stands third in the La Liga table and will face Deportivo Alaves on February 4. They had defeated Girona 4-2 in the first leg of the quarterfinal of Copa Del Rey and would now like to secure their spot in the semifinals of the competition.
Manchester City, which won the Premier League last year, are five points behind Liverpool now. The mood is anything but upbeat now after a chastening 1-2 loss to Newcastle United and they will try to correct their mistakes when they face Arsenal next.
