Guardiola blasts Barca

Pep Guardiola has sensationally hit out at Barcelona after his former club's president Sandro Rosell criticised him for not visiting cancer-stricken Tito Vilanova in New York.

Guardiola has accused Barca of breaking their word to 'leave him in peace' during his year's sabbatical in New York.

And the 42-year-old Spaniard also accused Rosell of using his former assistant Vilanova's illness to personally attack him.

“I told them — the president and his directors — I was going 6,000km away and asked them to leave me in peace but they haven't kept their word,” Guardiola told the media in Lake Garda, where his new club Bayern Munich are holding a pre-season training camp.

“I did my time at Barcelona then decided to leave.

“Too many things have happened that have crossed the line.

“I will never forget that they used Tito’s illness to cause me damage, because it’s a lie that I never saw him in New York.

“I saw him once and the reason I didn’t see him more often was because it wasn’t possible, and that wasn’t my fault.

“To say that I don’t wish the best of someone who was my colleague for so many years is very bad taste, and I didn’t expect that.

“If any of the things I’ve said is not true, come out and rebut it, but it has to be Rosell and the board, not intermediaries or Barcelona messengers.”

Guardiola ended his four-year spell as boss of Barcelona in 2012 after turning them into Europe’s most feared side, and headed to the United States for 12 months.

He has since taken over at Bayern, rejecting the chance to take the reins at Chelsea and the comments add extra intrigue to the pre-season friendly between Bayern and Barca at the Allianz Arena on July 24.

Vilanova has struggled to live up to such high standards in a tough year that saw him forced to take time off to seek treatment for cancer of the parotid gland.

Source:  Sports Mail