Pep Guardiola makes bold Liverpool claim amid Manchester City backlash

Pep Guardiola has claimed he does not want Manchester City to be like Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and defended his comments about his side's support after Wednesday's Champions League win over RB Leipzig. The Cityzens boss faced backlash after urging more fans to attend Saturday's home fixture against Southampton, having witnessed just over 38,000 supporters turn out for their first European match of the campaign. The City Official Supporters Club general secretary Kevin Parker asked Guardiola to 'stick to coaching' and be more considerate of the financial problems facing fans on the back of the pandemic. However, Guardiola defended his comments by saying:

"This is a big mistake. We are who we are. We are proud of who we are. I know our history.   "I have learned that they [Man City fans] were in the lower divisions and fans traveled to watch them. I don't want to be like United, Liverpool, Bayern, Barcelona, Madrid.   "We are who we are. People put words in my mouth. I don't have a problem with fans, if I did I would stand aside.   "It was an incredibly tough game against Leipzig, I saw how difficult it was for my team in the dressing room and I know Southampton will be tough, so I asked the people to come to help them.   "But these guys don't understand my comments. I am here to defend what I said. When I make mistakes I will apologise but I will not apologise for what I said. I know who we are. I like the fans that we have."

Source - Liverpool ECHO Join us on Telegram!/ Follow us on Twitter!

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