Pep Guardiola blasts Zlatan Ibrahimovic: He shouldn’t have gone public with our Barca spat

PEP GUARDIOLA has hit out at Zlatan Ibrahimovic for going public over their Barcelona bust-up.

The Manchester City boss turned the tables on Ibrahimovic as the pair prepare to come face-to-face today in an explosive derby showdown.

The United striker was signed for Barcelona by Guardiola but the move turned sour and the Swede was axed before being sold to AC Milan.

Ibrahimovic responded by slamming Guardiola in his controversial autobiography.

But the Spaniard has hit back and insisted he was always up front with 34-year-old and would never criticise somebody when they didn’t have the chance to respond.

Guardiola said: “He explained in his book about what he believes. Always I was clear, I spoke with him always face to face – always.

“I never used the media to explain what I wanted from Zlatan on the pitch, never.

“The people can say many, many things, but I was so clear and direct to him.”

The duo were close friends when they first linked up when Swede arrived from Inter Milan in 2009.

But after leaving the Nou Camp Ibrahimovic, who joined United in the summer, blasted the Spaniard as a “spineless coward” who treated him like “a disturbance and an alien”.

Ibrahimovic then hammered Guardiola in another interview last season.

When asked about what it was like playing for his former boss, Ibrahimovic said: “As a coach he was fantastic.

“As a person I’ve no comments about that, that’s something else. He’s not a man, there’s nothing more to say.”

Ibrahimovic, who is on a mission to beat Guardiola, refused to hide his contempt for him last night.

The former Paris Saint-German hitman hailed new United boss Jose Mourinho as a ‘winner’ and admitted he couldn’t care less about Guardiola.

He said: “For me a relationship between a player and a coach has to be between a player and a coach. I know what he (Mourinho) wants and the demands he goes for. He is a winner.

“He is direct with everyone. He will not go behind your back. I prefer it like that. If someone does not talk to you I don’t accept it.

“Today I don’t know him (Guardiola). I knew him from the time in Barcelona. A lot of things have happened from that time until now.

“But how he works today I don’t know – and I couldn’t care less because he is not my coach.”