Guardiola fires back at Arsenal: Let the battle begin!

"You want a war? Then let the war begin," he declared.

"Gabriel said it perfectly in the press after the match, so this is a war. We have to provoke the opponent, to push them, and at the end, what can you do? You provoke me, OK, I'm there."

After Sunday's 2-2 draw, Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes stated: "It's a battle, a war, so it's normal to have provocative acts in football, it's part of the game. Now this is over and we are waiting for them at our ground."

Guardiola took aim at Gunners manager Mikel Arteta on Friday.

"Next time Mikel has to be more clear about exactly what he means.

"He said he was here four years and knows exactly what happened here. That can be related to the process now with 115 charges, maybe he knows information about that? Or maybe he had something like, I don't know…?

"Hopefully this question has been asked and he can answer exactly what he means."

However, Guardiola insists his friendship with Arteta remains strong.

"I love him, I respect him and I admire him," he added. "I admire his team and everything that he does.

"This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship. If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins, or   the amount of times that they've beaten us, I would not talk to him anymore.

"That's not the relationship I consider both of us have. Sport will never get in the way of a personal relationship, that's for sure."