Guardiola blasts 'false' report of Man City 'disrespect' in China

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola blasted a report in Chinese state media as "false" on Tuesday after the Premier League champions were accused of showing "utter disrespect" during their tour of China.

Guardiola hit out at the lengthy commentary posted on the English-language website of Xinhua, the state news agency, which said Manchester City snubbed fans and only visited China for commercial reasons.

"I don't agree but I should say too that it's false. To make a statement like this they have to know exactly what's happening in our club," Guardiola told media in Hong Kong.

"I don't understand how people can say that. Maybe one journalist is a little bit upset, I don't know why. But it's far away from what is reality," he added.

The opinion piece, which accused City of an "attitude of arrogance" and lashed out at arrangements for Chinese media, brought a sour end to a difficult tour of mainland China.

A frazzled City -- minority-owned by a Chinese state investment company -- arrived two days late and played two games in four days, before heading off for further friendlies in Hong Kong and Japan.

"So we came here, 23 hours. One day later we travelled two hours by train to play in another city, then came back to Shanghai and now here, and then we're going to Tokyo," Guardiola said.

"And always with the biggest smile. We don't sleep that well during the night but we had good training sessions. I'm impressed with all my players, what they have done so far."
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"But no, in China I thought it was a great experience. We all loved it."
"I'm pretty sure that people are going to reach an agreement," he said. "Just sit and talk like human beings. Both sides talk and talk and they are going to solve the problem."