Guardiola ignites a new battle with Manchester City fans, and the response is harsh

Manchester City coach Josep Guardiola sparked a new battle because of his statements about the fans attending the team's matches at the Etihad Stadium, and he was asked to comply with only team matters.

During a television interview, Guardiola asked the club's fans to attend the Southampton match, which will be held on Saturday, after the victory over Leipzig yesterday, Wednesday, in the opening matches of the team in the Champions League.

The manager may have been well-intentioned about his unwarranted comments, but it has angered some Manchester City fans who feel they have been incorrectly called into question about their loyalty to the team.

"I would like more people to come to our next match on Saturday, we will need more people next Saturday," Guardiola told BT Sport after beating Leipzig 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium, which saw 38,062 fans. Please, because we are going to be tired, I invite everyone to come Saturday to watch the match."

The low attendance of Manchester City's Champions League matches is often used as not all tickets are sold as a stick to beat the club by fans of other teams who may attend in greater numbers.

However, there are many reasons why tickets are not being sold out in full, and Kevin Parker, general secretary of the Manchester City fan club, feels Guardiola has unnecessarily inflamed the situation.

"It really surprised me, I'm not sure what it has to do with him, he doesn't understand the difficulties some people have had in attending matches at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night," Parker told PA Media.

He added, "They have kids thinking about them, maybe they can't afford the ticket, there are still some issues related to the Corona virus, I don't know why he is commenting on this, obviously he is the best coach in the world, but in the best possible way I think he should stick to this."

"It erases the night that was beautiful, people talk about Guardiola's comments more than the great match, questioning the support - which he is doing now - is disappointing and unnecessary," Parker added.