Pep Guardiola reveals he was furious at John Stones after he returned injured

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he was furious at John Stones after he returned injured following a friendly match for England earlier this year in March. Stones sustained a muscle problem in the 2-2 draw against Belgium at the Wembley Stadium. The match was played just before the Champions League quarter-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid.

The immediate consequences of the injury were that the center-back player could play only one of the two legs against Madrid, the La Liga giants. For the unversed, the two legs of the quarter-final clash ended in 3-3 and 1-1 draws in the Champions League.

However, Real Madrid ended up winning the match in the penalties 4-3 knocking City out of the Champions League. Coming back to Guardiola, he clearly stated that he always backs the players to feature for their country. However, Pep didn’t forget to point out that Stones was involved in a friendly clash and that a player like him cannot come back injured.

The 53-year-old also went on to add that the players put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes throughout the tournament to make it to the knockouts and one cannot get injured in a friendly game.

“I know the players don’t want to get injured – I always encourage them to go to the national team. It’s a ­pleasure. But if it’s a friendly game, you cannot come back injured. I’m sorry. If you are focused, if it is a friendly game, you cannot come back injured when you are playing the ­quarter‑finals of the ­Champions League because they put in a lot of work behind the scenes.

“I know him, and when he is fit, he is ready. I need him. Otherwise, we cannot compete until the end,” Guardiola said as per The Guardian.

Sometimes you have to respect the clubs, says Guardiola

Further opening up on John Stones’ injury before the knockout clash, Pep Guardiola reckoned that the club teams need to be respected sometimes and reiterated that players cannot get injured in international friendlies. He also admitted that he lost his cool after learning of Stones’ injury and stated that he was extremely disappointed.

Meanwhile, Manchester City are in action in the Premier League season. They have won six out of eight matches so far and have drawn two to be in second place in the points table. As for Stones, he scored a winning goal in injury time for City to help them win their previous clash against Wolves 2-1.