Pep Guardiola makes sacked claim in support of Xabi Alonso ahead of Man City vs Real Madrid

Manchester City face Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on Wednesday night and Pep Guardiola has given his backing to under-pressure boss Xabi Alonso

Pep Guardiola showed his support for Xabi Alonso during his Manchester City press conference

Pep Guardiola has a long memory when it comes to Real Madrid and he didn't miss a beat when he got the chance to remind the media in the Spanish capital of a criticism they used to throw at him.

The Catalan has never been a particularly popular figure here and when asked what advice he would offer an under-pressure Xabi Alonso, who finds his job on the line after just 27 games in charge, Guardiola rehashed a comment that was one famously uttered about him

The Spanish phrase "mear colonia" was used about Guardiola to convey a sense of superiority that Madridistas felt the son of Barcelona carried. Guardiola essentially told Alonso to go the toilet with his own equipment in a press conference when he seemed in a mood to tease the Spanish press, backing the former Liverpool midfielder to stick to his principes.

The duo spent a couple of years together at Bayern Munich and formed a close bond. Alonso is having a difficult spell in his early months in charge at the Bernabeu and Guardiola referenced the difficult environment here, claiming he would have been sacked last year if he was in charge of Real.

Guardiola survived the worst run of his storied career at the Etihad, winning just one of 13 games as autumn turned to winter and although things improved in the New Year, a Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid in the play-off stage was a reminder this was a team far from its best.

City's faith in the 54-year-old has been repaid, with the Blues in fine form this season and just two points off Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, but the man in the opposite dugout at the Bernabeu on Wednesday is finding his job on the line after just seven months.

"We were together two years, it was an incredible experience being with him," said Guardiola. "We shared many things.

"Barcelona and Real Madrid are the toughest clubs to be a manager, for the pressure, the environment. Last season, I would have been sacked six months before the end of the season. It’s a difficult place, but he knows it, he’s been here, he knows the reality.

"They have a lot of absences, many players are injured, it happened to us last season. Of course, he is capable."

Alonso could be sacked if Real are beaten tomorrow night and his biggest battle is inside the dressing room, with players unconvinced of his methods after years of a soft touch approach under Carlo Ancelotti.

This has always been a club that thrives of player power, with President Florentino Perez ushering in a Galactico era, but Guardiola insists that can be ended if power is given to the manager, which is something City's decision-makers have clearly done.

"It depends on where the hierarchy want to give the power," he said. "If the hierarchy wants to give the power to the manager, he will have the power, if they want to give it to the players, they will have the power."

This is the fifth year in a row that these two clubs have locked horns in the Champions League, but a meeting with Real will never get old for Guardiola.

"As a young boy born in Catalonia, a ball boy, player and manager, Madrid is a special part of my life as a football player and manager in a good way," he said. "I learn a lot in good and bad moments, part of my growth as a player and manager."