Pep Guardiola Loses Mother to Coronavirus

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has lost his mother. Dolors Sala Carrió died in Manresa, Barcelona today after being diagnosed with Covid-19. City confirmed this in a tweet earlier today which read: “The Manchester City family are devastated to report the death today of Pep’s mother Dolors Sala Carrió in Manresa, Barcelona after contracting coronavirus. She was 82 years old.

"Everyone associated with the club sends their most heartfelt sympathy at this most distressing time to Pep, his family and all their friends."

Club Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak also expressed our sympathies in a post on Twitter saying: “Our prayers and heartfelt sympathies are with Pep and his family at this overwhelmingly sad time. He and they have the love and support of the entire City family.”

The development comes as a huge blow to our manager who has been in the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Only last month, the City boss donated €1m (£918,000 at the time) to the cause in Spain.

The 49-year-old also featured in a video supporting the club’s Cityzens At Home initiative. This was meant to encourage City fans to stay at home as well as follow the advice of scientists, doctors and nurses in order to ensure their safety.

Other Premier League clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton have all sent condolence messages to the City boss and his family on the devastating loss.

Spain remains one of the hardest hit countries with the virus in Europe. In fact, the country now ranks second in the world with the number of infections behind the United States of America, and second in the number of deaths as Italy leads the way.

According to the latest numbers from Johns Hopkins hospital, Spain has had over 135,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and more than 13,000 deaths. Italy has suffered almost 16,000 deaths, the highest number in the world.

We all at Bitter and Blue together with the larger City family sympathise with our beloved manager and send our deepest condolences to him and his family at this sad period.