Pep Guardiola fires back at his “haters”: “Sorry, but I’ve won a lot”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently marked a major milestone, and on Monday reflected on his 1,000 career games as a coach, 716 of which ended in victory. That 71.6% win rate puts him ahead of legends like Sir Alex Ferguson (58.1%), José Mourinho (61.6%), Carlo Ancelotti (59.8%) and Luis Enrique (61.3%).

“Sorry to the haters, but we’ve won a lot of games. We’ve done very well,” Guardiola said, recalling some of his favorite matches along the way. “I have a lot of love for the 6-2 at the Bernabéu. Also the Champions League semifinal we played with Bayern in Munich, even though Atlético eliminated us. And the semifinal against Madrid, 4-0, which I think was the peak moment of this decade at Manchester City. There have been some really great games, yes.”

Guardiola takes clear stance on Barcelona return

Years after ruling out a comeback to coaching at Barcelona, Guardiola also dismissed the idea of returning in an another role. “I would never say no to Barça; as both a player and coach, it gave me everything. But life has stages. I say this now as Xavi Pascual returns, and I’m very happy for him because I think he’ll bring the basketball section back to where it belongs. But I’ve always believed in stages of life. Young coaches will have the desire to do what we once did. Go back to Barça? In what capacity, president, wearing a tie? No way, man, no way.”

Respect for Barcelona’s culture

Guardiola paused to praise Barcelona’s unique culture when asked about the presentation of the opposition project led by Víctor Font, “El Barça que volem,” taking aim at the current leadership. “That’s why it’s the biggest, most beautiful and special club in the world. Because here, you can do things like this, present opposition. Barça is a living club; there’s always news. And that’s what football is about. Over the years, I’ve worked with politicians, business leaders, very important people, but they don’t have half the passion when you talk about football. What matters, whether in club leadership or opposition, is not losing focus when you hear noise. If you lose focus, you make mistakes, and you screw up.”

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