Guardiola says he was just joking after ‘six titles’ comment draws reponse from Mourinho
Guardiola says he was just joking after ‘six titles’ comment draws reponse from Mourinho
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said it was only in good that he referred to winning twice as many Premier League titles as Jose Mourinho, after the Portuguese said that he, unlike the Spaniard, had won his titles fairly.
Guardiola also said City was innocent until proven guilty, responding to Mourinho’s allusions to its alleged violations of Premier League financial rules from 2009 to 2018, which the club has always denied.
Guardiola, who held up six fingers to Liverpool fans on Sunday, a gesture similar to Mourinho holding up three fingers in 2018 before getting sacked by Manchester United, had made the comment when asked about his future, following a loss to Liverpool.
“I hope not in my case… He won three, I won six… but we are the same like that,” Guardiola answered.
Mourinho, who currently managed Turkish premier division side Fenerbahce, responded to Guardiola’s comment on Friday, ahead of his team’s clash with Besiktas. “I won fairly and cleanly… I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 court cases,” Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying.
City did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mourinho’s statement.
Guardiola, speaking to reporters later on Friday, said he intended no malice when making the comment about Mourinho.
“If I have offended him, I am so sorry. But it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six, it is a fact. But the intention was completely fine,” he said.
“I think both with our teams – he with Chelsea, myself with Man City – we can sit in the table with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, right? For the many, many titles we’ve won. And I’m pretty sure sooner or later they will congratulate us.”
Guardiola said there were many people around the world who wanted to see City at the bottom. “We are innocent until proven as guilty. After that we’ll see what happens, but it is what it is,” he added.
(with inputs from Reuters)
