Pep Guardiola refused to back down from his assertion that Southampton's James Ward-Prowse is the world's best free-kick taker.
But the Manchester City boss joked that his own star Kevin De Bruyne, who perfectly placed the ball on the head of Aymeric Laporte to earn the Blues a point against Ward-Prowse's Southampton, is second best!
Guardiola has a habit of talking up opposition players in the build-up to games, and he was quick to praise Ward-Prowse, who is second only to Lionel Messi in terms of scoring direct from free kicks in European football in the last five years.
"There is no better taker," said Guardiola in his Friday press conference. "Southampton have the best free-kick taker I have ever seen, or at least he is in the world right now.
"He is so good that maybe you miss a little bit of the footballer player. He is a team player of great quality, without the ball and with the ball.
"He really understands the game but it is his free-kicks, set-pieces, and corners that people pay more attention to."
De Bruyne challenged that notion with a superb delivery for Laporte's equalising goal in the 1-1 draw, and Guardiola said with a smile when asked if that had changed his mind: "Absolutely not. He (De Bruyne) is the second one!"
