Pep Guardiola Rages at Nigel De Jong, Explains Bayern Munich vs. AC Milan Row

Milan midfielder Nigel De Jong is a player renowned for his robust playing style and it’s a trait which sparked a furious rant from Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, as the Dutchman injured one his players in an Audi Cup friendly encounter between the two sides.

Joshua Kimmich was the man on the end of a rash swipe from De Jong 20 minutes into the clash between the two sides at the Allianz Arena, which Bayern eventually won 3-0, meaning the youngster had to be withdrawn from the match.

As we can see here courtesy of Football Fights, Pep made his thoughts clear to the former Manchester City man at half-time:

“I told De Jong that I was sad for Joshua,” said Guardiola after the game, per Oliver Todd of the MailOnline. “He won't be able to play in the final (against Real Madrid) and perhaps he'll be out even longer than that. He certainly will become one of the best German players in the next 10 years.”

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Bleacher Report’s German football expert Clark Whitney thinks Bayern should have taken the appropriate measures when arranging this friendly match:

But as you might expect, Rossoneri manager Sinisa Mihajlovic didn’t think too much of the incident. “Football isn't dancing and fouls are part of the sport,” he said, per Todd’s piece. “This is also why games like this cannot be called friendlies.”

In fairness to De Jong, although some of his challenges have been somewhat questionable down the years, this one wasn’t malicious at all. The Dutchman tries to put the brakes on when closing the ball down, but misjudges the distance to Kimmich; the German was very unfortunate to pick up a knock that forced him off the field.

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Bleacher Report’s Adam Digby thinks Guardiola should have been a little more careful with who he directed his anger at too:

Although these matches are pre-season affairs, it’s easy to see why players do operate with a competitive edge. After all, tournaments like the Audi Cup and the International Champions Cup are played in front of packed stadiums and against quality opposition; it’s only natural the players take these matches very seriously indeed.

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As noted here by AS English, it’s not the first time De Jong has roughed up an opponent in pre-season either:

Guardiola is a purist and will have been keen to see how Kimmich fared against a quality side like Milan. It seems his anger was just frustration at the player's injury and De Jong’s reputation as a wrecking-ball midfielder stoked the flames further.

Hopefully the 20-year-old is ready to return very soon and we do get to see why Guardiola rates him so highly. If anything, while the youngster is likely to be in pain at this point, the experience of being on the end of a thunderous De Jong tackle will only serve to enrich his development as a player in the long run.