MANCHESTER: The friendship between Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could come under strain with the rivalry between their title-chasing Premier League clubs intensifying in recent days.
Arteta seems certain their relationship won’t be damaged.
Guardiola, however, might have gotten irritated.
Arsenal’s tactics, and use of soccer’s so-called “dark arts,” brought some criticism from a number of City players after the feisty 2-2 draw between the teams last weekend.
Arteta responded rather cryptically by saying he has “all the information” about City owing to his time there as an assistant to Guardiola from 2016-19.
“So I know, believe me,” Arteta said.
Those remarks were sufficiently vague for Guardiola to wonder whether Arteta may actually be alluding to the off-the-field issues at City, which are currently defending themselves against 115 charges of breaching Premier League regulations following an investigation into the club’s financial affairs.
“Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does he mean,” Guardiola said of Arteta. “He said he was here four years and we know exactly what happened here.
“It can be related (to) the process now with 115 charges, maybe it’s about that. He knows information about that maybe, or maybe he has something like ... I don’t know. OK, next time, like a good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked. He can answer exactly what does it mean when he said he was here and ‘I know what’s happening here.’“
Guardiola was speaking Friday in a news conference that took place about the same time as Arteta was holding one at Arsenal’s training base.
Asked about his relationship with Guardiola, Arteta said: “I love him, I respect him, I admire him and I admire his team and everything that he does. This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship.
“If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins or the amount of times that they’ve beaten us, I would not talk to him anymore. So that’s not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. In sport it will never get in my way, a personal relationship, that’s for sure.”
Guardiola said he feels Arsenal might be provoking his players into a rivalry, picking up especially on post-match comments by Arsenal defender Gabriel.
“Gabriel said it perfectly after the match — so this is a war, we are here to provoke the opponent, to push them,” Guardiola said. “At the end what can you do? OK, you provoke me — I’m there. You want a war? I’ll do a war.”
Arsenal have finished runner-up to City in the league the last two seasons.
Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City
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Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City
- Arteta seems certain their relationship won’t be damaged
- Guardiola, however, might have gotten irritated
Medvedev to face Griekspoor in bid for second Dubai title
- Former world No. 1 Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the semifinal
- Despite an injury, unseeded Dutchman Griekspoor beat 5th-seed Andrey Rublev in the other semifinal
DUBAI: Daniil Medvedev reached the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Friday and will face unseeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor as the Russian attempts to achieve something that has eluded him throughout his stellar career — winning the same tournament twice.
Former world number one Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 in an 83-minute semifinal, setting up a title clash that could see him claim a second Dubai crown to go with his 2023 triumph.
Medvedev, who has won 22 titles at 22 different tournaments, arrived in Dubai with a point to prove after early exits in Rotterdam and Doha.
However, the third seed has been in scintillating form in Dubai, dispatching Shang Juncheng, Stan Wawrinka, Jenson Brooksby and Auger-Aliassime — all in straight sets.
“It has been an amazing four matches, probably playing better and better each match, today being the best performance,” said Medvedev.
“If I can put in an even better performance tomorrow, I will have my chances to win and that is what I am going to try to do.”
Griekspoor battles injury to beat Rublev
Standing in his way will be Griekspoor, who continued his giant-killing run by beating fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6(6) in the other semifinal.
The Dutchman denied the 2022 champion, who also finished runner-up the following year, another shot at the Dubai trophy, saving two set points in the second-set tiebreak.
“No idea how I pulled off this one, I could barely walk at the end of the first set,” said Griekspoor, who took a medical timeout for treatment in the opening set.
“He served extremely well. I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets ... I landed with a serve and felt something in my hamstring.
“If he had won the tiebreak, I don’t know if I would have continued.”
It marked three consecutive top-20 wins for Griekspoor for the first time in his career after he beat second seed Alexander Bublik and Jakub Mensik en route to the final.
Griekspoor, who has won three ATP 250 titles in his career, will be looking to add a first ATP 500 trophy to his collection when he faces Medvedev.
