Pep Guardiola plays down Kevin De Bruyne incident during Real Madrid match: ‘We shout at each other and I love it’

De Bruyne surrendered possession in the second half, prompting Guardiola to gesticulate towards Belgian star from the touchline. The midfielder shouted back at Guardiola.

However, Guardiola dismissed any suggestions of a rift between manager and player, saying it is helpful in the long run to have this dialogue.

He said in his pre-match press conference: “The reaction with Kevin (De Bruyne) – I love it. We shout at each other and I love it. I like this step from Kevin. I like it. Sometimes in some games it’s a little bit flat and I like his energy. You don’t see how many times he shouts at me in the training ground.

“And this is what we need of him, because after that, he became the best. It’s just a part of the moment. We were 2-0 up and in the first minute of the first action (Ilkay) Gundogan lost the ball and Kevin lost it two or three times in a row. We didn’t need this type of game at 2-0 against Madrid.

“In the first half we didn’t do one action of that type. In sport, we need to have incredible control of the game. So we have to play more than ever, drop them and turn them, drop them and turn them, and we didn’t do it.

“But Kevin, stayed calm and made an incredible assist that we scored a goal from. How many times has it happened? Millions.”

City will secure a third consecutive Premier League title with victory over Chelsea on Sunday, and Guardiola uttered an interesting tennis analogy to sum up his side’s current situation.

“Tennis players say to serve to win Wimbledon is the most difficult one.

“It’s non-stop. Of course, we are satisfied to play the Champions League final but now is coming the most difficult thing.

“But on Sunday the game is in our hands to win the most important competition.”

The Spaniard also praised his players for their determination shown to reel in a previously rampant Arsenal side, seizing opportunities to pounce on dropped points for the Gunners.

“Now we talk about mentalities because we won. And I don’t believe in that. I defend the team when we lose and they had the same mentality.

“This is the reality. To recover eight points on Arsenal – first we had one game in hand in that moment, so it was a little bit fake. but we knew we had to win almost all of our games and they had to drop points.

“If Arsenal had maintained the same rhythm as the first leg [half of the season] and doing what they had done, it would not be possible to catch them. But they dropped a few points and we were there.”