Guardiola's recommendation to Xabi Alonso heats up the Madrid-City match

BarcelonaPep Guardiola is known for stirring things up before matches against Real Madrid. He did it back in 2011 before infuriating José Mourinho, whom he called "the fucking boss," and he did it again this Tuesday before playing Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu in a match that could negatively impact the future of Real Madrid's coach, Xabi Alonso. When questioned about the situation of the Tolosa-born coach, who has been under intense scrutiny after the poor results of recent weeks, Guardiola criticized Florentino Pérez's stance. "If the hierarchy wants to give power to the players, then the players will have the power," the Santpedor native declared, before immediately offering the following advice to Alonso: "He should just keep to himself. And since he won't be peeing cologne, he'll be fine."

This reference to Guardiola's urination and cologne harks back to his time as Barcelona coach and the criticism he received from certain quarters in Madrid regarding his press conference style. In fact, the Catalan manager once responded to these comments with: "Perhaps I am ironic, defiant, and I do wear cologne."