Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola
Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have ended up in a war of words this week
Pep Guardiola has added Jose Mourinho to the "huge list" of people who want Manchester City to be relegated after the Portuguese hit back at a joke the Blues boss made earlier this week.
Guardiola joked during a press conference on Tuesday about Mourinho being sacked after winning titles at Chelsea, pointing out during his answer that he had won six titles to his managerial compatriot's three, but that Mourinho’s rapid fall from grace led to his sacking.
But the answer and Guardiola pointing out the differences on their CVs clearly touched a nerve with Mourinho, who delivered a scathing rebuke during a pre-match press conference ahead of Fenerbahce's clash with Besiktas this weekend.
"Guardiola said something to me yesterday. He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly," said Mourinho. "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."
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Guardiola was asked about those comments during his press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace, and the Catalan was at pains to point out that what he had said was in jest, before addressing Mourinho's comments about the charges City currently face from the Premier League.
"It was a joke," he said. "But he’s another one in the huge list that they want the team in League One or the Conference. I would say to Jose the same: We are innocent until proven guilty. After that we will see what happens.
"It is what it is, it was completely a joke. Both with our teams, him with Chelsea and me with Man City, we can sit at the table with Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, right? For the many many titles we won. And I’m pretty sure soon they will congratulate us."
Guardiola's decision to point out his Premier League success compared to Mourinho is the comment that is likely to have riled the current Fenerbahce boss, and even when apologising for having managed to offend the 61-year-old, the City manager did again mention his own trophy haul.
“I’m talking about what I said. If I have offended him I’m so sorry, but it was a joke," he said. "The fact is he has three and I have six. This is a fact. But the intention was completely fine.
"It is another one in 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? We’ll wait, and after we’ll see."
Guardiola's comment about sitting at the table with Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson did create an image of the Premier League's most successful managers telling some of their war stories over dinner and a bottle of wine. Between them, they have won 25 Premier League titles, and Guardiola admitted that when he arrived at the Etihad in 2016, he never envisioned being able to put himself in that category.
“No. I remember many people say he wins because of Barcelona and Leo Messi and the other ones, that I had to prove it in England. Okay, we did it," he said.
Guardiola and Mourinho are unlikely to sit down and reminisce any time soon, but Wenger and Ferguson, having ended their managerial careers, have been more open.
“Now yeah [I chat to them]," said Guardiola. "With Sir Alex a few. Now not for a long period but in the first years a lot, we were at charity events together. With Arsene since he retired, it’s been incredible, but Arsene is a gentleman for many, many years.
“Both of them had incredible success at United and Arsenal, and Jose at Chelsea. I would say ourselves here. In terms of titles all four they are the best we have done in I don’t know how many years."
When they do meet, however, there is little discussion about titles won and success achieved.
“When we’re sitting with them we don’t talk about how good we are and how many titles we win and that kind of stuff, it’s ridiculous," said Guardiola. “We talk about life, how was the experience, he ask me how it is in England, experiences at United and Arsenal and the impact to change from Highbury to Emirates. Normal people in the world of football don't talk about results or how many trophies you win, the nice experiences for the managers are what you live.
“A trophy is nice, you have another number, but what is nice is what you live, good moments, bad moments, give you experience, relations with the players and backroom staff, now we are here.”