Former Barcelona defender Eric Abidal admits he clashed with Pep Guardiola during the coach's first weeks in charge.

Abidal revealed Guardiola, now with Manchester City, took issue with him speaking French in the locker room.

"At the start it was complicated. I was the father of the family and we were in the United States getting ready for the season. Guardiola came to me and told me to stop speaking in French with Thierry Henry. I told him 'don't talk to me like this I am not a child, and two, if I can't speak in French with Henry why are the Catalans speaking in Catalan among themselves?'

“The argument got worse and the tension rose and I had to speak to the president to explain it," recalled Thuram.

The incident did not end up affecting Abidal's opinion of Pep.

“He's a coach with great class. I learned every day from him."