Pep Guardiola recently made a shocking statement by hinting that Sadio Mane dives during certain games and this statement has caused a fair bit of stir during the past couple of days.
And since both the sides are going to face off against each other next Sunday in the Premier League this judgment have become even more important as many people have hinted that the Man City boss said these things purposely in order to rile up their opponents.
But in all fairness, Guardiola did not outrightly brand Sadio Mane a diver as he also chose to shower praise along with criticism.
“It has happened many times, what Liverpool have done, in the last few years, it’s because [Mane] is a special talent,” Guardiola had said.
“Sometimes he’s diving, sometimes he has this talent to score incredible goals in the last minute. He’s a talent.”
But since Guardiola has uttered these statements a number of pundits have come out to warn the Man City manager that Sadio Mane might have a point to prove when he takes the field on Sunday and this could be a serious problem for the reigning Champions.
And now it looks like the Spaniard has been trying to do damage control by trying to clear the air regarding his statement which he made for Sadio Mane.
“It was far from my intention to say that Sadio Mane is that type of player because I admire him a lot,” Guardiola clarified.
“For Jurgen, it was a penalty, for the referee it was a penalty and VAR it was a penalty. Maybe I was wrong, or not, to think it was [maybe not] a penalty.
“Jurgen knows Sadio better than me and I have an incredible respect [for that]. When [Klopp] says he is not like this then it is not like this.
“It was a praise to Liverpool to say it was not just because of one action. [Their late goals] happened many times at Anfield and away because they push and push. That is why it is nice to face them and to try to compete with them.”
