Manchester United have poked fun at Pep Guardiola following comments made by the Manchester City manager about the American actress Julia Roberts after their Champions League victory over RB Leipzig.
City putting seven goals past the German side in Manchester on Tuesday night and Erling Haaland helping himself to five to break yet more records in the competition was not enough to satisfy the Catalan coach on the night. While his side may have again progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals and are favourites to win it for the first time, the boss was clear he already considers himself to have failed for an entirely different reason.
Guardiola admitted that Julia Roberts, whom he professed is one of his three idols, attending Old Trafford for a Premier League match against West Ham United and not paying a similar visit to City approaching seven years ago continues to eat away at him. United have since capitalised on these comments and poked further fun at their cross-city rivals.
READ MORE: Guardiola insists he is a 'failure' at City because Julia Roberts went to watch United
"Throwing it back to when Julia Roberts visited Old Trafford," the club posted on their social media channels on Wednesday morning. Accompanying the message is a selection of images showing the actress inside Old Trafford watching her children kicking a football around on the pitch, including one with Roberts standing alongside then-United player Michael Carrick.
Explaining how he interpreted the 2016 trip, Guardiola explained during his press conference: "Julia Roberts came to Manchester, not in the 80s and 90s when [United] were with Sir Alex Ferguson winning titles after titles. She came during the period we were better than United over the last four or five years.
“She went to visit Man United, she didn't come to see us, so that's why even if I win the Champions League, we will not be compared because of the fact that Julia Roberts came to Manchester and didn't come to see us - my idol."
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