MY ACCOUNT
Antonio Conte cheekily rubbed salt in Pep Guardiola’s wounds by revealing he met the Manchester City manager’s “idol” Julia Roberts during his time as Chelsea boss.
Guardiola revealed his admiration for the Hollywood star following City’s 7-0 rout of RB Leipzig to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The Catalan coach, though, revealed a personal disappointment that Roberts chose to visit City’s rivals Manchester United during a 2016 trip, and said that snub would make him a “failure” regardless of whether his side win the Champions League this season or not.
“I have three idols in my life: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Julia Roberts. These are my three idols. For obvious reasons, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods deserve it, and Julia Roberts as well,” Guardiola said.
“Julia Roberts, years ago, came to Manchester. Not in the 1990s, when Alex Ferguson win titles, titles, titles and titles. She came in the period when we were better than United, these four or five years.
“And she went to visit Man United. She didn’t come to see us. So, even if I win the Champions League, it cannot compare to the fact Julia Roberts came to Manchester and did not come to see us. My idol.
“That’s why no matter what happens, even if I win the Champions League, it will not make up for the disappointment I had.”
Spurs boss Conte has now added to his rival boss’ misery by speaking about his own encounter with the ‘Pretty Woman’ star.
“Julia Roberts? She also came [to a match] when I was at Chelsea,” he said.
“She watched the game and then I had the possibility to show her into the dressing room.
“It’s good that an important person like Julia Roberts likes football. I think it’s important for football.”
Asked if Guardiola is a “failure”, Conte replied: “It’s normal for big coaches at important clubs to try to win every competition, and we know very well for Pep – one of the most important coaches in the world – the importance of winning the Champions League after seven years with Manchester City.
“During your career, sometimes failure is part of your job and it pushes you to become stronger and make yourself better.
“For the big coaches, the expectation is to lift a trophy. It’s the same for me here, and if we don’t lift a trophy the first responsibility falls on the coach. I know the expectations of myself are really high.”
