Video: A 'bad joke' behind Guardiola's post-match rant

A bad joke from FC Copenhagen's Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken seems to have taken his Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola out of his ever-cool mood.<br>

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الأربعاء، 03 نوفمبر 2010 - 12:32
A bad joke from FC Copenhagen's Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken seems to have taken his Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola out of his ever-cool mood.

It was Jose Manuel Pinto's infamous whistle that caused the problem in the first place as Barca were held to a 1-1 draw in the Danish capital on Tuesday.

Barcelona keeper Pinto, who deputized for Victor Valdes in the 2-0 first-leg victory, was accused of faking the referee's whistle to fool a through-on-goal Cesar Santin.

Pinto was eventually suspended for two games, but Copenhagen coach Solbakken didn't seem to be satisfied, only for Guardiola to defend his deputy keeper.

As the return leg came to an end, both managers had a heated argument on their way to the dressing rooms, before it was revealed that Pinto's whistle followed by a bad joke caused the misunderstanding.

Bad Norwegian joke

"Ask him (Solbakken) what happened, he knows how to manipulate the media very well. I think he has behaved very badly in this situation," Guardiola told Spanish TV.

"What he cannot do is ask for a four-match ban for Pinto and say that Pinto is a bad apple.

"Pinto is a player who goes in for fair play and he's an important part of our dressing room. I don't think a coach should do something like that."

Solbakken replied:

"I don't care if Pinto is sitting on the bench or on the sofa at home.

"We wanted to protect Cesar because he looked stupid and had a bad time after that.

"After we had shaken hands he started to say something about UEFA and I think he meant the whistling incident.

"I said that he (Pinto) should have got five games, that was just a bad Norwegian joke.

"Maybe he doesn't understand Norwegian humor, I'll have to take that on me.

"I really respect Guardiola, he's one of the finest coaches but I think he was told something wrong."

Solbakken vs. Guardiola