Manuel Pellegrini has no problem with Man City 'rival' Pep Guardiola

Old rivals | Pellegrini and Guardiola have clashed in La Liga and the Champions League
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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_24 November 2018

Manuel Pellegrini insists there are no problems between him and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as he prepares to face his former club for the first time since his departure.

It was announced half way through Pellegrini’s final season at the Etihad that Guardiola would be replacing the Chilean at the end of the campaign. At the time of the announcement City were still in the running for all four domestic titles, but it took the fizz out of their season which ended with just the League Cup added to the cabinet.

Since Pellegrini’s departure, Guardiola has taken Manchester City on a record breaking run to the title in his second season, surpassing 15 Premier League records on the way to their astonishing victory.

Pellegrini, who has beaten Guardiola in their last two meetings, insists there are no hard feelings towards his old La Liga rival.

"I have a good relationship with Pep, I have no problems with him,” he said.

“He was always a rival with me. With Manchester City I played twice against him with Bayern Munich and also with Real Madrid and Malaga when he was at Barcelona.

“Now we are going to play City against West Ham and I think he is a pretty good manager who manages the team in the way I like to do also.”

During his season at Real Madrid, Pellegrini was pipped to the title by Guardiola’s Barcelona, despite achieving Madrid’s record points haul.

He added: "To lose the title with 96 points and scoring 105 goals is not an easy way to do it but that's football and that's why it is the most popular sport in the world.”

Pellegrini is now six months in to his east London tenure and, after a slow start to the season losing their first four, is happy with his squad, but knows they should be challenging higher up the table.

"Always we must improve our performance - I am not happy with the position we are in the table. We started, for different reasons, very badly and after that it was not easy to recover.

"I am happy that we are all working together, the owners trust in what we are doing and the players are happy. I am happy with the team and the important thing is to continue to improve and deserve to be fighting for important titles.”

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