“I’m not talking about him and Naples otherwise he’ll get angry, he’s sensitive”- Corriere.it

“Naples? I don’t want to talk about them, otherwise their coach will get angry with me. He’s so sensitive”. With irony Pep Guardiola dribbles, in the press conference on the eve of Manchester City-Bayern Monaco, a question about Napoli’s chances in the Champions League. Why? In recent weeks Pep had praised Spalletti’s team, calling them the best in Europe. The Neapolitan coach didn’t like it: «It’s a game of responsibility that I don’t like. Manchester City has spent a lot of money, Napoli hasn’t – Lucio’s piqued answer -. If in the entire history of the club, the goal of the quarter-finals had never been reached, then it means that it is something extraordinary.”

So when today a journalist asks Pep if he would prefer to face a team with European experience like Bayern or one with no experience like Napoli, he ignores it and replies with a joke: “I can’t talk about it, otherwise Spalletti will get angry with me”. Guardiola who sees the Champions League as a goalalmost an obsession. He knows that he was called to City to win it: «When I arrived in Manchester everyone immediately told me that I was here for that – he says -. I understand, we’ve tried every year, but you’re up against excellent teams who, like you, want to win. And you don’t always succeed. In sport, in any sport, you lose more than you win: the important thing, however, is to be here at this stage of the competition, still in the running to win. For me, it’s the greatest compliment we can receive.”

He will challenge Bayern Munich who have just changed coaches, from Nagelsmann to Tuchel: «Creativity is your most important characteristic as a coach. His teams always attack very well and tomorrow maybe he’ll come up with something new. Bayern have great quality in every department: it will be difficult to deal with Tuchel as it would have been if Nagelsmann had remained. But we have to focus on us, on how to improve the team. And how to be ready when it’s time to take the field.”