MANCHESTER -- Pep Guardiola says he encouraged his Manchester City players to celebrate their derby victory but insists they did it in the "correct way."
Sources have told ESPN FC that City's celebrations after their 2-1 derby win were "very vocal" and accompanied by loud music, prompting a confrontation between players and staff from both clubs.
The Football Association has written to both clubs to seek their observations over a tunnel bust-up at the end of Sunday's clash at Old Trafford.
Asked if the celebrations were over the top, Guardiola told a news conference: "Definitely not. We won a derby, what do people expect -- we don't celebrate?
"It was the same after the Southampton game, that was 96 minutes or something like that, but we were happy. It was a derby, it was the closest rival.
"When United win they celebrate, when Arsenal win against United they celebrate, when Arsenal win the FA Cup last season they celebrate, but where? Inside the dressing room.
"[Our behaviour] was correct, believe me. We jumped because we were happy. People have to understand that we were happy. I think all the teams around the world, when they win a derby they are so happy. When we won with Bayern we were happy, with Barcelona we celebrated.
"We were inside, it is normal. We didn't do anything exceptional, we did what we did in the past and what we will do in the future.
"We try to celebrate, because when we lose we try to accept the defeat, but when we win we celebrate. We celebrate in the right moments, for example we celebrated in Napoli, you have to do that, but inside [the locker room]."
Meanwhile, Guardiola said it was too early to talk about the Champions League despite being given a favourable draw against Swiss champions FC Basel in the round of 16.
The City boss said: "I don't know about our conditions, our injured players or even the Basel players. It's far away so now I cannot say.
"Last season we drew Monaco and everybody was happy and after that you know what happened.
"We have shown we can do things on the bigger stages but it's the past. In the Champions League, it's how you are in that moment."
City face Swansea on Wednesday with the opportunity to set a new Premier League record by recording a 15th successive victory.
However, they will again be without captain Vincent Kompany, who was taken off at half-time in the win over United.
"He [Kompany] can't play at Swansea," Guardiola added. "I think it is less than we expected so hopefully he is back in a short time, but I don't know. He has a muscular injury."