0 – that's how many games Manchester City won throughout November. Pep Guardiola's team – both in the Champions League, the Premier League and the domestic cup – lost match after match. It seemed that the breakthrough came against Feyenoord, but the English squandered their three-goal lead and drew 3-3. City won its first match since October 26 on December 4. In the 14th round, the English champions defeated Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home.
Guardiola officially apologized to Mourinho. But he nailed it. “It's a fact!”
Three days earlier, Guardiola's team faced Liverpool at Anfield. The guests lost 0:2, which did not surprise fans and experts. Even the Spaniard himself was not surprised, as he went from obsessive states of self-harm to helpless smiles. At one point, the Manchester City coach responded to Liverpool fans who used creative chants to demand his dismissal. The 53-year-old showed six fingers at them, emphasizing that this is how many times he has won the Premier League.
His gesture immediately recalled the figure of Jose Mourinho, who years ago, as Manchester United coach, showed three fingers to Chelsea and Tottenham fans. Apparently, Guardiola liked this type of provocation and decided to follow the same path. Interestingly, Mourinho's gestures quickly led to his dismissal. – I hope it will be different in my case. He won three titles, I won six, but we are in the same situation. But we stick together. Our fans know that we are much better than what the Liverpool fans sang about – said Pep Guardiola after the match against the Reds.
The Portuguese himself quickly commented on his behavior and words. – Guardiola accosted me and said he had won six titles and I had only won three. But I won it cleanly and fair. If I lost, I would congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I wouldn't like to win and have to deal with 150 charges at the same time – added fuel to the fire of Mourinho, referring to the 115 charges of breaking the rules of financial fair play against Manchester City.
In short, things started to boil between Guardiola and Mourinho again. On Friday, a press conference was held before the away match between the English champions and Crystal Palace. One of the journalists asked the Spaniard again about the mentioned gesture and provocations towards the Portuguese coach. Guardiola explained that in his opinion these were just jokes and their dispute should be treated with a pinch of salt. Despite this, he decided to apologize to his older colleague and thus end the “conflict”.
– If I ever offended him, I'm sorry, but it was a joke. The fact is, he's three and I'm six! This is a fact! – he said at the end, a bit teasingly. The match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace in the 15th round will start on Saturday at. 16:00 Polish time. Currently, Pep Guardiola's team is in fourth place with 26 points.