Pep Guardiola, Man CityGetty

Guardiola aims dig at Solari & Real Madrid: I think they will be happy with me now!

Pep Guardiola has re-opened the row with Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari over the Catalan's supposedly disrespectful comments regarding the reigning European champions.

Manchester City boss Guardiola said in January that the best three clubs of the last decade are Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus, because they have consistently won titles and domestic cups as well as challenging in Europe.

Those comments did not go down well in Madrid, given Los Blancos have won the Champions League four times in the last five years, and Solari insisted Guardiola had "deliberately" left the club out of his list to provoke a reaction.

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That is clearly a comment that rankled with Guardiola, who took his opportunity to answer back when it was put to him that his side have been praised as the best on the continent.

"Thank you so much, but I will be nice for the Madrid supporters, who are upset with me, who are saying the best team in Europe is Real Madrid," he said at his press conference. 

"Because in the last three years they won and I think they are the best team by far in Europe in the last decade, and the best team is Real Madrid.

"But Real Madrid not the best team of the decade when you count leagues and cups and the other ones, because Juventus, Barcelona and Bayern Munich won six or seven times and they [Madrid] won two.

"I am pretty sure that Solari now understands my answer better. I am pretty sure they are happy now with me." 

City face Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium this weekend as they continue their fight for the Premier League title with Liverpool and Tottenham.

Madrid, meanwhile, are in derby action as they take on Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metripolitano on Saturday.

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