Tuesday 1 April 2014

Guardiola Has Pep in Step

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Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has joked he might have been offered the Manchester United job, but is not sure because of his limited English.

Last year, the former Barcelona coach - who was out of work at the time - said he hoped to manage in England.

The Spaniard, 43, took charge at Bayern in the summer, but joked Sir Alex Ferguson may have offered him the chance to succeed him at Old Trafford.

"Maybe I didn't understand if I received an offer or not!" he said.

Guardiola's Bundesliga champions are in Manchester for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against United on Tuesday.

The former Spain midfielder met Ferguson in New York while on a 12-month sabbatical after leaving Barcelona at the end of the 2011-12 season.

"He invited me to a super restaurant," Guardiola said. "It was a friendly dinner, like always. He was so gentle and we spent a very good time together.

"[But] my English is not so good and when Sir Alex spoke quickly I didn't understand him."

David Moyes succeeded Ferguson when his fellow Scot retired in the summer, but the Red Devils have struggled this season and are seventh in the Premier League.

Bayern, meanwhile, took one step towards repeating last season's historic Treble by securing the Bundesliga title last week with seven games to spare.

"Last season Bayern won everything and this season we are over 20 points ahead of our opponents," Guardiola said.

"Maybe United haven't had a good season in the league but I see very good players [and] over one game or two games, they can beat us."

Bayern winger Arjen Robben echoed his manager's comments.

"You only need to get distracted for a second and you lose against Manchester United," the 30-year-old former Chelsea player told Bayern's official website.


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