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Tag: Pep Guardiola

  • Pep Guardiola sends message to Van Dijk

    Pep Guardiola sends message to Van Dijk

    Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola insists he hopes Virgil van Dijk can get back to playing as soon as he can at Liverpool.

    There’s talk of Van Dijk’s season being over after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Everton.

    Guardiola said, “I cannot speak about how it will affect Liverpool. Jurgen (Klopp) can talk about this.

    “We wish him to get well soon and have a good recovery. I don’t like opponents losing important players for a long time. I don’t know him much but he looks strong so he’s going to come back well.

    “We’ll wait for him to come back to the Premier League because the league is better with good players on the pitch and he is one of the best. Get well soon and all the best for him, his family and all of Liverpool.”

  • Aguero will miss first two months of Premier League season games – Guardiola

    Aguero will miss first two months of Premier League season games – Guardiola

    Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero could miss the first two months of the 2020/2021 English Premier League (EPL) season, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

    Guardiola said this was because Aguero was yet to train with the club since suffering a knee injury in June.

    The Argentine was sidelined for the last 12 matches of Manchester City’s 2019/2020 campaign, including their two UEFA Champions League fixtures in August.

    Guardiola said the 32-year-old may not be fit until November.

    “We knew the injury was difficult,” Guardiola said.

    “He still hasn’t had one training session with us and Sergio is not a guy who regains his physical condition quickly.

    “He has been out for a long time. So, maybe in one or two months he will be ready.”

  • Messi contacts Guardiola over Man City move

    Messi contacts Guardiola over Man City move

    Wantaway Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is in talks with Pep Guardiola about a move to Manchester City.

    It was revealed on Tuesday that Barca legend Messi, who has spent his entire career at the Nou Camp, has told the club he wants to move on.

    Radio Cataluyna reports Messi has already contacted former boss Guardiola about a move to the Etihad.

    The communication has been made in recent days about a potential reunion between the pair, after their illustrious success together between 2008-2012 at Barcelona.

    Messi and Guardiola won two Champions League trophies and three LaLiga titles in a period where the Argentine forward became the best player in the world.

    Messi believes a clause in his contract allowing him to walk away for nothing is still valid because the season ended in August and not May due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Barcelona say the deadline for Messi to leave for free passed in June and will contest the player’s argument that the deadline changed when the season was rearranged after lockdown.

  • Man City boss Guardiola confirms Sane exit

    Man City boss Guardiola confirms Sane exit

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed Leroy Sane is leaving for Bayern Munich.

    City have completed a deal with the Bundesliga champions that could be worth a potential £55million.

    Sane, 24, had already agreed a five-year contract with the German champions after making it clear his future lay away from the Etihad Stadium – and Guardiola spoke about the deal on Wednesday.

    “Looks like, if not already, done,” Guardiola said, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against Liverpool on Thursday. “There are still some little issues. Wish him all the best on his new chapter.

    “He will have another chapter at a fantastic club in Bayern Munich. He wanted to leave. Everyone has their own life and he decided to move on.

    “I would have loved for him to stay but he believed he would be better and happier there.”

  • Guardiola opens up on Man City giving Liverpool guard of honour

    Guardiola opens up on Man City giving Liverpool guard of honour

    Manchester City will give newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool a guard of honour when the teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, manager Pep Guardiola has said.

    Liverpool ended their 30-year wait for a top-flight title when last season’s champions City were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea last week, handing the Merseyside club an unassailable 23-point lead at the top of the table.

    Liverpool’s first match since being confirmed as champions is at City’s stadium and Guardiola said his players would pay tribute to Juergen Klopp’s title-winning side.

    “We are going to do the guard of honour of course. We will greet Liverpool when they come to our house, in an incredible way. We are going to do it because they deserve it,” Guardiola said.

    The 49-year-old added that he was already looking forward to helping City come back stronger next season, saying “In sport, you have to live in the future”.

    He said: “Never can you have one-eye on what you have done. Never forget that we are an incredible club and organisation, and what you have to do is learn.

    “I think we know the reason why we suffered this season and we are going to try to solve it for next season”.

  • Man City to appoint Lillo as Guardiola’s assistant

    Pep Guardiola is set to appoint his former mentor Juanma Lillo as his assistant coach at Manchester City, reports in the Spanish media on Friday indicated.

    Manchester City did not replace Mikel Arteta when he left his role as Guardiola’s assistant to become Arsenal manager last December.

    Now, Spanish newspapers Marca and AS said Guardiola was set to hire Lillo, who recently left Chinese Super League side Qingdao Huanghai.

    The 54-year-old Lillo has been a coach for 35 years, working as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli with Sevilla and the Chile national team.

    He has had limited success in a number of first team coaching roles at several clubs, including Real Sociedad, Almeria and Atletico Nacional.

    In 2005, he signed Guardiola for Mexican side Dorados Sinaloa.

    “Guardiola is like a son to me,” said Lillo in a 2012 interview with FIFA, explaining that the former FC Barcelona midfielder went to see him after Lillo’s Real Oviedo side had been beaten 4-2 by Barca.

    “He told me that he liked how my team played a lot and wanted to stay in touch. What began as a professional relationship developed into something much more.”

  • Benatia warns Juve players if Guardiola takes charge

    Al-Duhail defender Medhi Benatia has again taken aim at the man-management of Pep Guardiola.

    Benatia worked with Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

    And he recalled: “Tactically, Josep is the best coach in the world, I do not see anyone better than him in this respect.

    “However, I did not really like Guardiola in terms of relations with the players. Then he did not impress me.

    “Of course, he may be suitable for Juventus, but I believe that the current coach Maurizio Sarri has a great vision of football.”

    Guardiola is being linked with Benatia’s former club Juve for next season.

  • UCL: Real Madrid are kings of Europe – Guardiola

    Pep Guardiola has hailed Real Madrid as the “kings” of the Champions League ahead of Manchester City’s clash with the 13-time European champions.

    City travel to the Bernabeu for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday knowing they are yet to beat Real in four attempts in European competition.

    Guardiola has plenty of experience of facing Real from his time as a player and manager at their bitter rivals Barcelona, and he knows the size of the task his City side face.

    “I played many times against them as a player and a manager and I always had an incredible admiration for the history of this club,” said Guardiola.

    “I know how difficult it is against the quality of their players. I don’t know how many finals they have played in or how many times they have lifted (the trophy).

    “For us, maybe Claudio (Bravo, with Barcelona) has won the Champions League but otherwise we don’t have any players who have won this competition.

    “But we have the desire to be ourselves. We can win, we can lose but we must try to be ourselves in these 180 minutes we have to face Real Madrid.

    “For us there is an excitement. We try to do our best, knowing we play against the king of this competition.”

  • Guardiola to remain at Man City despite UEFA ban

    Pep Guardiola has told friends he intends to stay at Manchester City despite the club’s two-year ban from the Champions League.

    Unless City overturn the ban imposed by Uefa on Friday, they will not compete in European football until 2022 after this season.

    Guardiola’s contract is due to expire in 2021.

    He is expected to speak about the subject for the first time on Wednesday.

    His contract does have a break clause at the end of this season and it was anticipated he would activate it should City fail to win their appeal which they will be submitting to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the next few days.

    However, it is understood the 49-year-old has said he will not be doing that and remains committed to the club.

    Guardiola is likely to discuss the issue after Wednesday’s rearranged Premier League game against West Ham.

    In a bizarre situation, neither side has played since the initial game was postponed due to bad weather on 9 February.

    As both clubs held pre-match news conferences two days before the game was supposed to be played, they have been told by the Premier League there is no contractual requirement to hold another and it is understood neither side will do so.

  • EPL: I feel for Guardiola – Klopp

    Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he feels for Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City players after the club’s suspension from Europe.

    Uefa have banned City from European competition for two years for “serious” financial fair-play breaches.

    City plan to appeal against the ban and have 10 days to take the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

    “It was a shock when I heard it. In this moment I imagine it’s very hard for them,” the German said.

    “I have no idea how these things work – what I can say is Manchester City under Pep Guardiola play sensational football. I’ve always admired what they do.

    “To be honest I feel for Pep and the players because, wow, they did, for sure, nothing wrong. They just played football and sensational football.

    “Pep helped the league to improve football.”