Pochettino: Xavi hates me, he's my enemy
REUTERS
Updated 26/04/2017 12:51 CEST
En Español
Shared
400
After Barcelona icon Xavi openly discussed how Manchester City's Pep Guardiola would like to sign Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli, White Hart Lane boss Mauricio Pochettino has slammed the Spanish midfielder.
As a former Espanyol player and coach, Pochettino reminded of the city rivalries that exist between Barcelona and Los Periquitos, with the derby taking place this Saturday.
"He's in a period when he loves to talk, he [plays] in Doha and listen, he was a Barcelona player, he's my enemy," the Argentine told Sky Sports. "He tried to destroy our focus on winning because he hates me, because he's Barcelona.
"I know him very well, I played against him a lot and when I was a manager."
Recalling an incident in a December 2009 Catalan derby, Pochettino claimed Xavi had dived to win Barcelona a penalty as an example of his dishonesty.
"Yesterday there was Thierry [Henry] here [at Spurs] and we remembered the game when [Xavi] cheated the referee," said Pochettino. "He fell down, it wasn't a penalty, but [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic scored for Barcelona and they won the game.
"The marker was Raul Baena, Xavi fell down and said 'penalty', they gave a penalty.
"After, in the replay, it was very funny because no one touched him and everyone in the media was saying no, no trust me - it was a penalty. Come on. It goes from lie to lie to lie.
"He is working for Manchester City, maybe? He wants to help Guardiola and [Vincent] Kompany."