Pep Guardiola invited Manchester United fans down to the Etihad Stadium to cheer on City’s title push against Aston Villa on Sunday … but insists they must wear a blue shirt! The Blues boss was shocked to hear that many Reds want his team to beat Liverpool to the Premier League title, but said they would be welcome if they fancied showing up at the ground.
Plenty of Reds will be backing City as the title race boils down to the final day, when a win for Guardiola’s team secures their fourth crown in five years, but anything less leaves it open for the Merseysiders to snatch it away. A City triumph would be the lesser of two evils for United supporters, as it denies Liverpool the chance of not only matching their unique Treble, but of surpassing it by landing the league and them beating Real Madrid in next week’s Champions League final to become the first team ever to win the Quadruple.
United supporters also want to stay out in front as the club with the most league title victories – they are currently on 20, with Liverpool one behind on 19. City are coming up fast but are currently joint fifth in that list with seven, alongside Sunday’s opponents Aston Villa.
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Guardiola was asked how he felt that many United fans would be hoping his team can finish the job and thwart Liverpool’s lofty ambitions on Sunday, and reacted with surprise, saying: “Are you sure? Yeah? So United likes more City than Liverpool? Oh my God, I didn’t know it. Is it true?”
The assembled media at the press conference assured him it was correct, and that brought a smile and a retort which mentioned his claim last week that everyone in the country outside of City fans wanted Liverpool to win the title – a claim he has since qualified by suggesting he was talking about the prevalence of Liverpool fans in the country and of former Liverpool players in the broadcast media.
“So I was wrong when I said everyone wants Liverpool in this country!?” he said “I was wrong.”
And then he had a special message for United fans who want to take their new-found love for the Blues to another level: “Yeah, welcome. Welcome. If they want to join us in the street. But they have to wear the blue shirt, yeah. They have to wear it!”
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