Pep Guardiola destroys Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov with Manchester United dig after Man City mentality criticism

Pep Guardiola has hit back at former Manchester United duo Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov over their criticism of Manchester City’s mentality in the wake of their Champions League exit last week.

City missed out on a place in the Champions League final against Liverpool following Real Madrid’s dramatic comeback at the Bernabeu.

Following City’s exit in Europe, Evra accused Guardiola of not wanting strong personailities in his dressing room.

‘Manchester City needs leaders, but Guardiola doesn’t want leaders,’ Evra claimed. ‘He doesn’t want personality. He’s the leader. That’s why when they’re in trouble they don’t want to. They don’t have anyone on the pitch to help them.’

Berbatov, meanwhile, likened City’s elimination against Madrid to how a ‘small club’ would react under pressure.

‘If a small team, who don’t have that much talent and class concede two goals at the end of the game, we’ll say it’s because they are a small team with a small mindset and with no winning mentality,’ Berbatov said.

But when asked about the criticism of City’s mentality after their defeat to Madrid, Guardiola took the opportunity to remind Evra and Berbatov of when he guided Barcelona to victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final in 2011.

‘The answer is so easy, it’s the same character and personality that we lost in Madrid in the last few minutes, the same ones,’ said Guardiola.

‘Like the specialist former players like Berbatov, Seedorf and Patrice Evra, these type of people that they were there.

‘When I play against them I didn’t see this kind of personality when we [Barcelona] destroyed them in the Champions League final against United. It’s the same character and personality.

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