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Santiago Solari Talks 'Deliberate' Pep Guardiola Real Madrid Exclusion
January 30, 2019
Santiago Solari has hit out at Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola for leaving out Real Madrid when he named Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus as the best teams in European football over the last decade.
Los Blancos manager Solari felt former Barca coach Guardiola excluded Real on purpose, per AS' Mario Cortegana: "I think it's a deliberate omission. We're not going to fight about one decade when Real Madrid is the best club of last century and in the history of the game. And having said that, Madrid are also the best of the last decade. That's because this club never underestimates anyone—never, whatever the situation."
Per Goal's Sam Lee, Guardiola had said: "I've said many times: What are the best teams in the last decade? Juventus, Bayern Munich, Barcelona. These are the three best teams in Europe. Why? Because every season they win the league, every season they win the cups, every season they are there. Because they are the best."
Real Madrid have won four UEFA Champions League titles in the last five seasons, including the last three in succession, so it's understandable Solari feels Guardiola has deliberately left them out.
Lee gave some insight into Guardiola's thinking, however:
Real's success in Europe can give them a claim to being one of the best teams over the last decade, but league titles are the best indicator of a team's overall quality and consistency.
In that regard, they fall short of those Guardiola mentioned.
Since the 2008-09 campaign, Real have won La Liga just twice. By contrast, Barca, Juventus and Bayern have all won seven of the 10 league titles available to them in that time, with the Italian side winning them all in a row.
The Independent's Miguel Delaney noted Barca's domestic consistency after they won the title last season:
Although none can match Los Blancos' Champions League success, Barca have won it three times in the last decade and Bayern once, while Juve have reached the final twice.
In terms of domestic cup competitions, Real are also well behind in this period. They've won the Copa del Rey twice, whereas Barca have won it six times, while Juve and Bayern have won the Coppa Italia and DFB-Pokal four times apiece, respectively.
Real are undeniably one of the best teams in European football and have been so over the last decade, but in terms of consistent excellency over that period, they don't quite match up with those Guardiola named.