Samuel Eto’o slammed Pep Guardiola as he claimed he was the key man during his time at Barcelona – not Lionel Messi. The Manchester City boss guided the Spanish side to the treble during his first season in charge at the Nou Camp, but the striker has taken all of the credit.
Eto’o played alongside the likes of Thierry Henry, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Messi and Carles Puyol during the incredible 2008/09 campaign.
The Catalan giants looked untouchable as they lifted the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey.
But Eto’o has bizarrely claimed that Guardiola, who left to join Bayern Munich in 2013, did not understand the squad.
He told beIN Sport: “Pep has lived his whole life in Barcelona, but in the years I spent in Barcelona, he didn’t understand the squad. He didn’t live the life of our group.
“I said to Guardiola, you’ll apologise to me, because it’s me that will make Barcelona win, it’s not Messi. “It was the situation back then. Messi would come later, but you can ask Xavi, Iniesta and others, that was my era. “It was me that made Barca win, and Pep would ask me for forgiveness.”
Eto’o scored 152 goals in 234 games during his five-year spell with Barca before Guardiola decided to get rid of him in 2009.
The 38-year-old joined Inter Milan – which he has described as the “best deal in football history”.