GOAL

Former Barcelona star Carles Rexach has claimed that Pep Guardiola never visited Tito Vilanova in hospital before the latter passed away.

The former Bayern Munich coach refused to see his former assistant in hospital before he died of cancer in April 2014

Vilanova assisted Guardiola during their time in charge of Barcelona B and followed him to the club's senior squad as they lead Barca to an unprecedented spell of success.

When Guardiola departed the club, Vilanova replaced him at the helm of the club before being forced to resign due to his battle with cancer and underwent treatment in New York before his death in April 2014.

And Rexach has revealed that the decision to replace Guardiola instead of follow him out of Barcelona saw the relationship between the two deteriorate to an extent that the current Bayern Munich coach refused to visit him in hospital.

"The conflict arose when he accepted the offer to coach the first team," Rexach told Regio7. "Initially, it looked as if Pep had accepted it, but his head was filled by the group of people around him.

"When Tito went to New York a clinic to get an oncology treatment and Pep, who was living there with his family, never visited."