Gary Lineker crossed paths with a young Pep Guardiola during his time as a striker at Barcelona, but the current Manchester City manager did not enjoy their meeting
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Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker annoyed a young Pep Guardiola at Barcelona(Image: The Rest Is Football)
Gary Lineker has explained why Pep Guardiola had held a grudge against him for decades following an incident at Barcelona. Lineker played for Barca between 1986 and 1989, during the period when Guardiola was progressing through the club’s famed La Masia academy.
The England striker scored 52 goals in 138 games to help Barca win the Copa del Rey and the European Cup Winners' Cup. As one of the club’s star players, Lineker was idolised by a young Guardiola, who performed ballboy duties at first-team games.
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Unfortunately, when the two of them crossed paths, it didn’t go well for the youngster. Speaking on the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast, Lineker explained what happened. “When he joined Manchester City, I went to do an interview with the BBC,” he said.
"And he went: 'Before we start, I was a ballboy at Barcelona when you played, when you were there.' And he said: 'At the end of every game I'd come to you and I said can I have your shirt? You never gave it to me.' And I felt bad about it."
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Lineker added: "I did explain to him, I said: 'Pep it wasn't like it is now. In those days we only had one shirt. We weren't allowed to give it away’.”
Micah Richards then suggested that Lineker could have bought a new shirt to solve the issue, prompting the presenter to quip: "I didn't earn what you lot earned!"
Thankfully, the two were able to bury the hatchet when they met again in 2017, shortly after Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City. Lineker was sent to interview him for the BBC and left with a real insight into the manager, who can come across as an intense character.
"Pep Guardiola sometimes comes across as a little bit curt when he speaks to the media but I found him extremely open and engaging when I met him last week. It maybe helped that we had some common ground in that we both played for Barcelona, and under the same coach - Johan Cruyff," he told BBC Sport of their meeting.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has now forgiven Gary Lineker(Image: Getty Images)
"But I had no inkling of the story that Pep brought up right at the start of our conversation, about when I was a player at Barca and he was a ball boy who asked me for my shirt. It set the tone for the rest of the interview.
"It got across that he has a fun side as well as the intensity that we often see from him on the touchlines or in front of the cameras. I think part of the reason Pep can be abrupt is because he is usually interviewed either just before or immediately after a match.
"So it was good to speak to him in a more relaxed setting to hear his thoughts about English football and try to find out a little bit about what makes him tick. I enjoyed interviewing him a lot."
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