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- Guardiola praised Napoli after reaching UCL quarter-final
- Spalletti called it a ploy to "knock Napoli down"
- Apologised for his comments after Guardiola described him as "grumpy"
WHAT HAPPENED? Guardiola hailed Napoli as "the best team in Europe" after they marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 5-0 aggregate over Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, Spalletti was not too pleased with the praise and looked at it as a ploy to "knock Napoli down". The media row between the two managers continued as the Man City boss called him "sensitive" and described him as "grumpy".
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WHAT THEY SAID: Spalletti was asked to respond to Guardiola again ahead of Napoli's quarter-final clash with Milan, and the manager chose to apologise for his previous comments. "I learned a lot from Guardiola. Everyone has learnt something from Guardiola. For me, Guardiola is like [Jurgen] Klopp, [Roberto] De Zerbi, all the amazing managers," he told reporters.
"Guardiola, Klopp and De Zerbi are among the football managers I always look at. So if my expression was misunderstood by Guardiola, I'm sorry because I'm truly happy when a manager like him says good words about Napoli. It would take me days and days to appreciate Guardiola's former Barcelona."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Napoli and City could potentially face each other in the Champions League final if they successfully negotiate their respective challenges in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The Premier League outfit are the firm favourites to progress to the last four at the expense of Bayern Munich after rallying to a 3-0 victory in the first leg of their quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening.
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Napoli will hope to build a strong aggregate lead when they take on familiar rivals AC Milan in their Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash at San Siro on Wednesday.