Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took a swipe at Arsenal on Monday by admitting he does not respect them off the pitch.
Guardiola’s side
were knocked out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage by Arsenal on Saturday
as the Gunners won 2-0 at Wembley.
Guardiola was
impressed by Arsenal’s play under his former assistant Mikel Arteta, but he
made a distinction in his thoughts about the north London club when it comes to
their approach away from the pitch.
Guardiola’s anger
with Arsenal is thought to come from the role they played in the group of eight
Premier League clubs perceived to have turned on City during their successful
appeal against a two-year Champions league ban.
The group wrote to
the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), to try to ensure any attempt by City
to delay their two-year ban while their appeal was ongoing was dismissed.
City had their ban
overturned by CAS earlier this month, but Guardiola told reporters: “The
opponents always deserve my respect and credit, and Arsenal, they have it.
“I have all the
respect for what Arsenal are on the pitch—not much off the pitch, but on the
pitch a lot.
So I congratulate
them and good luck against Chelsea in the final.”
Meanwhile,
Guardiola says he is “optimistic” as City prepare to resume their bid for
Champions League glory against Real Madrid.
City will host the
Spanish champions in the second leg of their last 16 tie on August 7.
Guardiola’s side
hold a 2-1 lead from the first meeting in Madrid in February.
City only have two
Premier League games to play before the visit of Zinedine Zidane’s men.
They were well
below their best against Arsenal but Guardiola pledged to learn from that
performance and is confident his team will be ready for Real.
“Part of the good
work Arsenal have done, I give them a lot of credit for, what they did, how
good they defended,” Guardiola told reporters on Monday.
“We didn’t do it
properly. We had enough chances to score goals and we didn’t do it. I just
congratulate them, learn from this and prepare for Madrid. We move forward, it’s
forgotten.
“Now we are
incredibly excited and incredibly optimistic about the game against Madrid, for
the players we have.
“We know if we play
at a decent level, higher than we played against Arsenal, we’ll have our
chance. If not, we’ll be out.”
Next season will be
Guardiola’s fifth at City, meaning he will have stayed at the club longer than
his previous jobs at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“I’ve never been
five years in one club, to see if we will be able to maintain the levels that
we have in the previous seasons,” he said.
“In one world where
everyone sacks everyone, for managers to keep doing the same job for a long
time is so difficult. To be in a fifth season makes me so proud.”