Fabio Capello jibe reminds Man City that Pep Gurdiola has unfinished business

Italy aren't going to the World Cup, and of course Pep Guardiola gets some of the blame.

Fabio Capello's analysis of Italy — who won Euro 2020 last summer as part of a world-record 37-game unbeaten run that ended less than six months ago — after their shock play-off defeat to North Macedonia was that the Azzurri had paid the price for following the Manchester City manager's style instead of Jurgen Klopp's.

“Italian football has imitated Guardiola for 15 years,” the former England boss told Sky Sport Italia. “There were no vertical passes or physical strength, there is no habit to making challenges. On the other hand, we should follow Jurgen Klopp’s playing style."

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As far as strength in numbers goes, Capello has a point. There are more teams in the Premier League who follow the German style that Klopp favours, but then there are more German coaches in the league. That in itself could of course be telling, yet Guardiola's record speaks for itself and he is also regularly at pains to misconstrue perceptions about his brand of football.

When City's upcoming match with Atletico was pitched as a clash of styles between him and Diego Simeone, Guardiola countered: "If he likes to not concede goals, I like more than him. If he wants to win games, I like more. I like counter-attacks more than him."

Capello's comments (and he is not the only famous Italian football figure to think like that) sound very much like many opinions when Guardiola rocked up at the Etihad in 2016. The coach may have been ludicrously successful with Barcelona and Bayern Munich — and contributed towards major trophies for the Spanish and German national teams during