Why was Guardiola sending kisses to Rudiger?
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Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 18.03.26. | 13:25
Cameras caught a awkward conversation between Real's player and City's coach
What was expected actually happened on Tuesday in Manchester. There was no miracle like in Lisbon where Sporting scored five unanswered goals against Bodo and eliminated the Norwegians. In England, Real Madrid came with three goals advantage and not only kept them, but defeated 10-men Manchester City 2-1 and eliminated Pep Guardola again. This was the sixth knockout tie between the two in the last seven seasons, and for the fourth time, Real Madrid emerged victorious. They continued their small streak of three consecutive knockout wins over City. At the press conference, Guardiola was forced to talk about his unpleasant streak but nobody asked him about the ‘incident’ after the game.
The reason is simple – nobody saw it at the time, since the game just finished and everybody rushed in to the locker rooms and into the office for a presser. But Moviestar cameras caught an awkward moment between Pep and Antonio Rudiger. Guardola was doing his handshakes with all Real players, Rudiger included, but something happened during that conversation and the German international got annoyed with City boss. Guardiola responded with a smile but it was not enough and Alvaro Arbeloa had to keep Rudiger away. While the Real defender was walking away, he once again turned to Guardiola, who sent him a kiss.
Guardiola felicita a todos los jugadores del Real Madrid, todos les dan la mano sin problema, hasta que llega el demente de Rudiger y le empieza a decir de todo. Ese chico necesita ayuda urgente, tiene problemas serios. Es peligroso. pic.twitter.com/6W8e6aXGFg
— -1899- (@_Futbolero_) March 18, 2026
Back at the press conference, the Spanish tactician tried to downplay the fact that Real eliminated him three times in a row and brought in Jurgen Klopp into the conversation.
“No, Real Madrid was not my biggest challenge. Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool F.C. was the biggest challenge—you always forget that. You don’t understand what it was like to face Liverpool. Those matches were an incredible experience, a learning process for the whole team, because we were playing against a side that—unlike us, who hadn’t been in this competition for 12 or 13 years—already had that experience. They sometimes won those games, Real Madrid beat us as well, we won some too, and we had some great moments” said Guardiola.
City manager again dismissed the possibility of leaving the club at the end of the season:
“Oh, now everyone probably wants to sack me, right? One day I’ll come here and say ‘goodbye, guys,’ but that won’t happen this year. My contract here runs until June 2027. The future of this team will be bright—we’ll return to the UEFA Champions League next season” he said.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16
Return leg
Tuesday
Sporting - Bodo 5-0 (1-0) AET
/Ignacio 34, Goncalves 61, Suarez 78(p), Araujo 92, Nel 120+1/
Arsenal - Leverkusen 2-0 (1-0)
/Eze 36, Rice 63/
Chelsea - PSG 0-3 (0-2)
/Kvaratskhelia 6, Barcola 14, Mayulu 62/
Manchester City - Real Madrid 1-2 (1-1)
/Haaland 41 - Vinicius 22(p), 90+3/
Wednesday
20.45: (1.57) Barcelona (4.65) Newcastle (5.00)
23.00: (1.35) Bayern (5.30) Atalanta (8.00)
23.00: (1.30) Liverpool (6.10) Galatasaray (8.50)
23.00: (2.60) Tottenham (3.75) Atl.Madrid (2.65)
***odds are subject to change***