Angeliño hits out at Pep Guardiola for 'killing' his confidence at Man City

Angelino has impressed for Leipzig this season
Angelino has impressed for Leipzig this season / Boris Streubel/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

RB Leipzig's Angeliño has hit out at former manager Pep Guardiola, claiming the Manchester City boss wrecked his self-confidence.

The pair first worked together between 2016 and 2018, before City sold the left-back to PSV Eindhoven. After impressing in the Eredivisie, the Cityzens re-signed him a year later. However, he was not afforded many opportunities by Guardiola, featuring just six times in the Premier League before being shipped out on loan to Leipzig.

Angelino had two spells with Guardiola at City
Angelino had two spells with Guardiola at City / ATTILA KISBENEDEK/Getty Images

This move was then made permanent in January and Angeliño was not complimentary about his former boss when he was quizzed by Bild recently.

"Pep has killed me and my self-confidence," he said. “After my move from Eindhoven back to City, he had already judged me for two preparatory games and then didn't give me a real chance again. So I was happy that I was only awarded to Leipzig and that I am now an integral part of the club."

Later he was asked about the differences between working with Guardiola and Leipzig boss, Julian Nagelsmann, to which he responded: "One of them gave me confidence and let me play. The other one just doesn't."

"In Leipzig I felt trust from day one. The club and the coach gave me an incredible push. I am now happy to be able to play consistently in Leipzig."

Angelino has enjoyed a decent season so far, scoring eight goals and racking up 11 assists in 31 games, while playing in an advanced left wing-back role. His form has helped Die Roten Bullen stake a claim to be Germany's new second club.

Leipzig currently trail Bayern Munich by just two points in the Bundesliga title race and they are also in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals. However, they did suffer a setback in Europe recently, losing their Champions League round of 16 first leg at home to Liverpool 2-0.