Xabi Alonso and Pep Guardiola will clash for the first time as managers tonight: Real Madrid hosts a duel against Manchester City at the Bernabéu in Champions League, and it is rumoured that the fate of Alonso as Real Madrid manager depends on the outcome of this match. A defeat could result in the abrupt exit of the former Bayer Leverkusen manager, following a streak of bad results in the last weeks (three draws and two defeats).
Alonso and Guardiola have a history behind, as Alonso once worked under Guardiola's comands at Bayern Munich. In fact, it was Guardiola the one who personally convinced Alonso to leave Real Madrid in the summer of 2014, right after winning Champions League. Guardiola later took pride in helping some of his players to become managers: "If I can help a player become a coach in the future and contribute something to his development, I feel happy. Johan and others did it for me, and my obligation is to do it now for the players", Guardiola said in a book by Martí Perarnau (via El País).
Therefore, when Guardiola visited the press room at the Bernabéu, he was asked about Alonso. And he jokingly said that he "should pee with his own", a catalan phrase meaning that he should make his own decisions.
"You ask me about Xabi's future, and I only wish him the best because of the respect I have for him, but it's an answer I don't know. You are the one that know the truth; I don't. I'm very far from it.
I'm not inside; I don't know if the players are with him or not. Hierarchy, in the end, is about power. If the board wants to give it to the coach, he'll have it, and if they want to give it to the players, they'll have it" he said.
Guardiola did say that he doesn't agree with the people that say that Real Madrid is at its most vulnerable right now. "All I can say is that I haven't spoken with Florentino, nor has he told me that tomorrow will be his last match if he loses. You're all making a lot of assumptions, and it's something we all go through. But I understand that Xabi is in control of the situation, he knows how this whole thing works, and I know what kind of opponent we're going to face. To beat Real Madrid in this competition, it's not enough to just be better, you have to be much better."