Former Man City Star Explains It's 'Hard' To Have Relationship With Pep Guardiola In Scathing Interview

Former Manchester City defender Danilo has taken aim at Pep Guardiola for never 'being relaxed' and being hard to have a relationship with.

The Brazil international arrived at City from Real Madrid in a £26.5 million deal in 2017.

He never settled in England and left for Juventus in 2019 as part of the deal that brought Joao Cancelo to the Etihad.

Danilo was asked about his relationship with Guardiola in a recent interview and didn't pull any punches.

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The 30-year-old told Italian publication Repubblica: It's true it's not easy to have a good relationship with him (Guardiola).

"He is never relaxed, he thinks about football all the time.

"I think at home, in the evening, he puts his wife on the couch as if she were a player on the pitch."

Danilo made 23 appearances in the Premier League during his debut season as City won the title with 100 points.

He then only featured 11 times in the following campaign, with Kyle Walker and Oleksandr Zinchenko the preferred full-back options.

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Guardiola's obsession with football is well-documented and it's made him one of the finest managers of his generation, having won trophies with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City.

All three clubs have won league titles under his management and Barcelona also won two Champions Leagues.

However, he hasn't tasted European glory in a decade and lost last season's Champions League final to Chelsea.

City suffered a 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the week and are looking to get back to winning ways against Liverpool on Sunday.

Guardiola's rivalry with Jurgen Klopp has been a fascinating watch for fans and he believes it has made him a better manager.

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"Since I arrived here - maybe not the first year - Liverpool were always there," the 50-year-old told BBC Sport.

"Jurgen Klopp's teams helped me to be a better manager.

"He put me at another level, to think about it, to prove myself, to be a better manager. That is the reason why I am still in this business.

"The last four years, all the time, we were both there. It's the biggest compliment that both clubs were there.

"But in the Premier League there are not just one or two, there are many teams who can fight for the league."

Topics: Manchester City, Football, Pep Guardiola, Premier League, England

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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