Guardiola rules out return to Barcelona
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he will never go back to Barcelona as their coach amid growing uncertainty about present incumbent Luis Enrique’s future.
Enrique is out of contract at the - son, and the chances of him leaving have increased significantly after a calamitous 4-0 defeat away to Paris St-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.
their last 16 tie, left Barcelona on the brink of elimination from the competition, and they also lag behind bitter rivals Real Madrid in the race to win La Liga.
Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde is reportedly a contender with Eusebio Sacristan of Real Sociedad and Everton’s Ronald Koeman, who as a player scored the goal that secured them their
Guardiola, who won 14 trophies in four years as Barcelona’s head coach, says he has no intention of returning to the
Barcelona to be coach there. My period there is gone.”
Despite their stumbles, Barcelona remain the standard bearers of world football, according to Guardiola.
“Barcelona are still the best team in the world,” said the 46- year- old Spaniard.
“It’s always a surprise because they are so, so good, but in football anything can happen.
“There’s a lot of competition, the opposition are so strong. You can win heavily or you can lose heavily, that can happen, it’s happened to me, but there are 90 minutes to go and anything can happen.
“If there’s a team who can do it, then it’s Barca, with their mentality.
“When you have dominated world football, it’s normal that the people expect you to keep up that level, but my advice to you, knowing Luis and the players a little, is not to talk too much, because they will be back and prove you wrong.
“They’ve done it over the years, dominating football for 10 years, and they continue to be the best team in the world.”
Scrap replays
Guardiola, meanwhile, has suggested the quality of English football would be improved if FA Cup replays were scrapped.
Quarterfinals replays were ditched last summer by the Football Association, which had stage in 1999.
Guardiola would prefer to see further action taken, calling for a system similar either to that used in Spain’s Copa del Rey, where all ties bar the final are played over two legs, or Germany’s Cup competition, where drawn matches are decided with extra- time and penalties, without the need for a replay.
“In Spain, we play two games. I prefer that situation,” he said.
“Maybe for the amount of games played, extra- time and penalties would be good.
“But OK, I’m not here to decide the rules of how we play the competition, I’m here to play the competition in the way that the chairmen and the important people decide.
“I prefer the quality over the - land, all around the world. It’s a big mistake, so many games.
“You have to allow people to go to the theatres, the cinemas, the good restaurants and not play every game in front of the TV. We’re going to kill the players.
“We could have the same quality, same intensity but a point of view.” TURIN, Italy: Juventus went 10 points clear at the top of Serie A on Friday (Saturday in Manila) with a 4-1 win over struggling Palermo in a perfectly-timed boost ahead of their Champions League trip to Porto next week.
Former Palermo star Paulo Dybala played a pivotal role as the Argentina international pushed his former employers closer to the drop by scoring twice, creating another and also seeing a free-kick come back off the woodwork.
despite not playing well,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“It’s one game less to winning the Scudetto and I congratulate the players for the way they approached the game.”
Palermo started the day eight points from safety and they were under the cosh almost from the start on Friday.
Dybala, who moved to Turin after three seasons at Palermo in when he clipped the post with a left-footed free-kick.
But the Sicilians’ resistance didn’t last as Claudio Marchisio put Juventus ahead in the 13th - keeper Josip Posavec could only parry Gonzalo Higuain’s closerange shot.
At the other end, veteran ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon got down low to keep out Palermo’s top scorer tight angle.
It was a brief scare for the champions who went into the curled in a picture- perfect free kick, this time to the left of Posavec’s despairing dive and into the top corner.
Higuain added a third and his 19th league goal of the season in the 63rd minute, latching onto Dybala’s delicately weighted pass between two defenders.
Higuain repaid the favor to his international teammate one minute from time with a cheeky backheel allowing Dybala to slot the ball home.
consolation through an Ivaylo Chochev header but Juventus will go to Porto for Wednesday’s Cham
However, Porto were in equally ruthless mood on Friday with a 4-0 win over bottom club Tondela taking them two points clear in Portugal.