Sports
Man City’s Pep Guardiola Responds To José Mourinho Jibe
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he was only joking when he referred to winning twice as many Premier League titles as José Mourinho, after the former Chelsea boss said that he had won his titles fairly.
The Spaniard also said City were innocent until proven guilty, responding to Mourinho’s allusions to their alleged violations of Premier League financial rules from 2009 to 2018, which the club has always denied.
Guardiola, who held up six fingers to Liverpool fans on Sunday, a gesture similar to Mourinho holding up three fingers in 2018 before getting sacked by Manchester United, had made the comment when asked if he could suffer a fate similar to the Portuguese.
“I hope not in my case … He won three, I won six … but we are the same like that,” Guardiola answered.
Mourinho responded to Guardiola’s comment on Friday, ahead of his team Fenerbahce’s clash with Besiktas.
“I won fairly and cleanly … I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 court cases,” Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying.
City did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mourinho’s statement.
Guardiola, speaking to reporters later on Friday, said he had no bad intentions when making the comment about Mourinho.
“If I have offended him, I am so sorry. But it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six, it is a fact. But the intention was completely fine,” he said.
“I think both with our teams – he with Chelsea, myself with Man City – we can sit in the table with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger right? For the many, many titles we’ve won. I’m pretty sure sooner or later they will congratulate us.”
Guardiola said there were many people around the world who wanted to see City at the bottom.
“We are innocent until proven as guilty. After that we’ll see what happens, but it is what it is,” he added.
Mourinho has taken shots at City before, saying in October that he was hoping he could add a fourth Premier League medal to his cabinet if City are stripped of their titles and United, who finished second in 2017-18, are awarded the Premier League trophy.
Chelsea, where Mourinho won his three English top-flight titles in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2014-15, are being investigated by the Premier League for potential financial rule breaches between 2012 and 2019.
Spain’s World Cup-winning stars, Fabián Ruiz and Gavi, have been honoured with their combined weight in tomatoes by their hometown after helping the country lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The two players, who are from Los Palacios y Villafranca, a town south of Seville with a population of fewer than 40,000, returned home on Wednesday for an official civic reception at the town hall.
As part of the celebration, Ruiz and Gavi stepped onto weighing scales to determine the quantity of tomatoes they would receive in recognition of their achievement.
Ruiz received 85 kilograms of tomatoes, while Gavi was presented with 68.5 kilograms, bringing the total gift to more than 150 kilograms.
Local authorities described the presentation as a longstanding tradition that has become a symbol of the municipality’s recognition of its outstanding athletes.
Former Spain winger Jesús Navas, who became the first footballer from Los Palacios y Villafranca to win the FIFA World Cup in 2010, also attended the ceremony.
Navas and Ruiz had previously received the same honour after Spain won the UEFA Euro 2024 championship.
The town already has a sports pavilion named after Navas and Ruiz, while football pitches in the municipality will now be renamed in honour of Gavi to celebrate his achievements.
The town council also announced plans to construct a monument dedicated to Navas, Ruiz and Gavi in recognition of their contributions to Spanish football.
According to the council, the monument is intended to serve as a lasting tribute to the three champions, whom it described as the pride of the community and role models for younger generations through their sporting achievements and personal conduct.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, is keen on signing John Stones or Ezri Konsa, following news that William Saliba will be out for an extended period.
Saliba has opted not to have surgery after injuring his back while playing for France at the 2026 World Cup.
But the 25-year-old defender is facing a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
Stones is available as a free agent, after he left Manchester City at the end of his contract.
The 32-year-old worked with Arteta during his time as assistant to Pep Guardiola at City.
Konsa, who represented England alongside Stones at the World Cup, has two years left on his contract at Aston Villa.
Both players can also operate at right-back.
British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua has begun preparing for a fight with Tyson Fury by training with a specially made heavy bag replica of the Gypsy King, ahead of both men’s tune-up bouts this weekend.
Joshua and Fury have signed contracts to finally settle a decade’s worth of debate over a domestic showdown, but must first come through separate warm-up assignments, with Joshua facing Kristian Prenga on Saturday in Jeddah and Fury taking on 46-year-old veteran Mariusz Wach in Thailand.
Joshua’s first-ever boxing coach, Sean Murphy, unveiled the bespoke bag and told DAZN it had been designed specifically to resemble Fury, describing it as reproducing the Gypsy King’s chin for practice purposes.
Murphy said Joshua had provided all the bags currently hanging in the gym and had personally funded other refurbishments at the facility, including new ring covers and an overhaul of the female changing room.
Joshua, aged 36, has vowed never to overlook an opponent again after being stunned by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 while he had one eye on a prospective fight with Deontay Wilder, though with his Fury deal now signed, he is being careful not to look past Prenga.
The Saturday bout will be Joshua’s first contest since a car accident claimed the lives of two of his close friends, and comes ten days after he stopped Jake Paul in a heavily anticipated crossover fight.
Joshua is expected to dedicate victory over Prenga to his late friends as he continues plotting a route towards the long-awaited Battle of Britain with Fury, aged 37.
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