Pep Guardiola delivered a hilarious reaction as he brushed off an unusual comparison ahead of Manchester City's next game in the Champions League. They will be looking to register their first victory of the new league phase against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday night.
Speaking ahead of the match, Bratislava boss Vladimir Weiss used a strange analogy to describe Guardiola's tactical brilliance. He drew parallels with the work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who designed the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.
"I would compare Pep to Antoni Gaudi," said Weiss at his pre-match press conference. "He’s been building something and he is a genius. Just like Gaudi had his idea of a cathedral, now he’s achieved what he wanted to do. He’s selected players who fit his philosophy."
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Guardiola was quizzed on Weiss' comments at his own press conference and responded by raising his eyebrows in disbelief, before looking around the room and questioning if his opposite number had been drinking.
He joked: "No glass of wine for my colleague? I appreciate that a lot. From Catalonia, Gaudi was maybe the greatest."
The City boss insisted the compliments from the opposing dugout would not distract him from the task at hand on Tuesday night. His side are the overwhelming favourites but will need to avoid falling into the trap of complacency to stand the best chance of securing all three points.
"I want to say something honest," said Guardiola. "With this start of the press conference [it seems like] we are going to play a friendly game tomorrow. I’m a little bit concerned about that in terms of the questions about Gaudi and this kind of thing.
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"It’s a competition. With this new format, I don’t know exactly how you handle it and how many points you need. At the end, it’s a competition. Perform well, improve on the bad things and that’s what I like most in my process."
City will be without Kevin De Bruyne, who remains sidelined with the pelvic injury he suffered in the goalless draw with Inter Milan. Phil Foden, meanwhile, could be primed for a key role despite enduring a slow start to the season due to fitness issues.
"For Fulham or after the international break, hopefully he [De Bruyne] will be okay," added Guardiola. "Phil will be back. In the 30 minutes he played at St James’ Park I felt something that I liked.
"We cannot forget after the Euros he was two months without training with a few niggles. Now he is smiling a bit and in his rhythm. I don’t have any doubts."
