This latest exchange between the two long-time rivals follows Guardiola’s gesture of holding up six fingers to Liverpool fans during City’s 2-0 loss at Anfield last Sunday. ..Continue Reading
Guardiola’s action was reminiscent of Mourinho’s similar gesture to indicate his Premier League title wins, made just two months before he was dismissed by Manchester United in 2018.
When asked about his gesture and the comparisons to Mourinho, Guardiola said: ‘I hope not in my case. Maybe in the end we are quite similar, like Jose. But he won three, I won six.’
Mourinho then hit back at Guardiola by highlighting the 115 charges that Man City are contesting with the Premier League over alleged breaches of financial rules.
‘He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly,’ Mourinho said.
‘If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 lawsuits.’
When asked about Mourinho’s comments, Guardiola said: ‘It was a joke. But he’s another one in the huge list that they want the team being in, I don’t know, League One or the Conference.
‘I would say to Jose the same – we are innocent until proven guilty, and after that we will see what happens. It is what it is. It was completely a joke.
‘I think both with our teams, him with Chelsea, myself with Man City, we can sit at the table with Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, right? For the many, many titles we won.
‘If I have offended him I’m so sorry, but it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six. This is a fact. But the intention was completely fine.
‘It is another one from the huge list in this country and more around the world that want us at the bottom.
‘It’s okay, it’s fine. I’ve said many times wait for the sentence and everyone, especially in democracy, is innocent until proven guilty. Right? So we’ll wait, and after we’ll see.’
