Legendary striker Samuel Eto'o has lifted the lid on his difficult relationship with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola from the time they spent together at Barcelona.
Eto'o was already established as one of the world's best strikers during his first four years in Catalonia, scoring 94 goals in 147 games under Guardiola's predecessor Frank Rijkaard and winning the Champions League and two La Liga titles.
Then Guardiola took charge in 2008 and a rift soon formed as the Blues boss began to push him out of the side in favour of a young Lionel Messi.
"Pep has lived his whole life in Barcelona, but in the years I spent in Barcelona, he didn't understand the squad. He didn't live the life of our group," the Cameroonian told beIN Sports.
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"I said to Guardiola, you'll apologise to me, because it's me that will make Barcelona win, it's not Messi.”
“It was the situation back then. Messi would come later, but you can ask Xavi, Iniesta and others, that was my era.”
“It was me that made Barca win, and Pep would ask me for forgiveness."
Despite the friction between the pair Barcelona had an incredible season in Guardiola's first campaign, winning the treble with Eto'o bagging 36 goals including the opener in the 2-0 Champions League final victory against Manchester United.
Yet it would be Eto'o's last. That summer he was moved onto Inter as part of the deal that brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Spain. It came as a shock to the 38-year-old, who now plays for Qatar Sports Club, but it worked out for him in the end and he says his relationship with Guardiola is now cordial.
Eto'o went on to play a vital role under Jose Mourinho at Inter and won his second consecutive treble, knocking Barcelona out in the Champions League semi-final.
"It's clear today, that move, and the opportunity that Pep gave me has gone down in history because it permitted me to be an even bigger part of football history by going to Inter. He allowed Inter to strike the best deal in football history."
