Pep Guardiola criticizes Barcelona

Pep Guardiola has exposed a deep rift between him and his former club

Pep Guardiola has lashed out at his former club Barcelona and wants them to leave him in ‘peace’ now. The 42-year-old Spanish coach is angry at suggestion that he ignored Tito Vilanova. 

Pep left Barcelona last year after being in charge for four seasons as he helped the club lift 14 trophies from the 19 competitions they entered.

In a news conference on Thursday, Pep Guardiola said: “I told them [the president and his directors] I was going 6,000km away and asked them to leave me in peace, but they haven’t kept their word. I did my time [at Barcelona] then decided to leave. I want them to get on with the job and I wish them all the success in the world, because their success will also be mine – I don’t need to say what I feel for this club.”

“Too many things have happened that have crossed the line,” Guardiola told the media in Lake Garda in Italy, where Bayern are holding a pre-season training camp. “I will never forget that they used Tito’s illness to cause me damage, because it’s a lie that I never saw him in New York.

“I saw him once, and the reason I didn’t see him more often was because it wasn’t possible, and that wasn’t my fault. To say that I don’t wish the best of someone who was my colleague for so many years is very bad taste, and I didn’t expect that.

“If any of the things I’ve said is not true, come out and rebut it, but it has to be them [Rosell and the board], not intermediaries or Barcelona messengers. Them.”

Despite his anger, Guardiola intends to be cordial when Bayern play Barcelona in a pre-season friendly on 24 July.

“I did the best I could at Barcelona,” he said. “The staff and coaches have nothing to worry about. I left and have nothing to complain about – all I asked was to be left in peace.

“I went off to learn English and I ended up trying to learn German. That was all I focused on. I just ask the board to go their own way and leave me alone and stop using me and my friends to hurt me.”