‘Did he say that?!’ Pep Guardiola absolutely FURIOUS with Jamie Carragher over Erling Haaland comments | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola was left absolutely furious after he was made aware of comments made by Jamie Carragher regarding Erling Haaland’s absence in Manchester City’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Haaland missed the 3-1 loss at the Bernabeu due to a knee issue, leading to Carragher to question the legitimacy of the injury and whether the striker really wanted to face up against Madrid defender and rival Antonio Rudiger.

“So let me work this out,” Carragher said on CBS Sports. “Haaland has gone to the manager this morning and said he’s not fit?

“Do you think that’s got something to do with Rudiger? Is that because Rudiger is playing?

“He’s on the bench so he can’t be injured. I never went to see the manager on the morning of a game and said I’m not fit.

“So he’s injured, is he? It’s Rudiger-itis is it? Is that what we’re saying here?”

A journalist made Guardiola aware of the comments in the embargoed section of his pre-Liverpool press conference and the Man City boss couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Oh god, did Jamie Carragher say that?” Guardiola responded.

After a long pause and a few murmurs from the reporters present, he continued: “I don’t laugh. Do you think Erling Haaland did not want to play the game?

“It’s not nice, it’s not true. It was crazy for him to play the game. He had a problem in his knee, I didn’t think he would be over that and he could not play.”

An angry Guardiola then curtailed his press conference and continued to shake his head as he made his way out of the room, turning to one his assistants and saying, “unbelievable.”

It’s not the first time comments made by Carragher have angered Guardiola, who had previously questioned the pundit’s authority to judge his City team, given he has never won the Premier League title himself.

The comments will increase tensions as City prepare to host Carragher’s former team Liverpool today, with the Reds knowing victory will go a long way to securing the Premier League title.