Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola believes a mole within the dressing room is undermining him and the club.
Details of rows that took place after Bayern’s Champions League elimination to Atlético Madrid on Tuesday were leaked to the German media.
It was reported that Guardiola vented his anger at Bayern’s physios and medical department. According to Bild newspaper, he accused them of taking too long to get his players back to full fitness after injury and contrasted the speed at which Atlético managed to get Diego Godín back, while he still has to cope without the likes of Arjen Robben.
Asked about the row, Guardiola, who will join Manchester City next season, did not deny it had happened, saying that somebody within the club is trying to hurt him.
“Usually what happens inside the dressing room remains inside the dressing room,” he said. “Whoever has spoken has done it to hit me. But I’m not here next season anyway so it’s not my problem, but Bayern’s. It’s happened plenty of times over these past three years.
“It’s normal for me to talk to my players and staff and give them my opinion, but there are people here who are talking because they want to hurt me. Maybe this person will still be here next season and clearly they haven’t realised that they are not damaging me, but the club and the team. I won’t be here, so it’s the club’s problem.”
As he is poised to complete a hat-trick of domestic title triumphs, Guardiola acknowledged that the German media will judge his time at Bayern, not on what he did win, but on what he didn’t – namely the Champions League, which was won under his immediate predecessor, Jupp Heynckes.
“I’ve done my best here,” he said when asked about his Bayern Munich legacy. “But if you say that I had to win the Champions League, then I have failed. Go ahead and write that I have failed.”
