Pep Guardiola in Europe: A decade of heartbreak since second success with Barca

Guardiola last lifted European club football’s biggest prize in 2011.

Pa Sport Staff
Monday 31 May 2021 06:35 EDT
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola walks past the European Cup after his side were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in Porto (Adam Davy/PA).
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola walks past the European Cup after his side were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in Porto (Adam Davy/PA). (PA Wire)

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was unable to get his hands back on the Champions League trophy on Saturday as his side were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the final.

It has now been 10 years since he last won the competition, when he registered a second triumph as boss of Barcelona.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at Guardiola’s Champions League record through his time in charge at Barca, Bayern and City.

Barcelona

2008-09

Having been promoted from coaching the B team to succeed Frank Rijkaard, Guardiola guided Barca to an unprecedented treble in his first season at the helm, capped by Champions League glory. Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi scored the goals as Manchester United were defeated 2-0 in the final in Rome.

2009-10

Barca’s defence of the trophy saw them get past Arsenal in the quarter-finals before being knocked out 3-2 on aggregate in the last four by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, who went on to be crowned champions as part of their own treble.

2010-11

The cup was reclaimed with another victory against United, this time a 3-1 win at Wembley, with Messi again among the scorers. The route to the final had included overcoming Arsenal in the last 16 and Mourinho’s Real in the semis.

2011-12

The final season of Guardiola’s Barca tenure saw the team again knocked out in the semis by the eventual winners as they were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Chelsea.

Bayern Munich

2013-14

Guardiola returned to management with Bayern after a year-long sabbatical and saw another run ended in the last four by the team who went on to claim the trophy. After beating Arsenal and United in previous rounds, the German giants crashed to a 5-0 aggregate defeat to Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid including a 4-0 home loss in the second leg.

2014-15

Another painful semi-final experience for Guardiola as he saw his Bayern side beaten 5-3 on aggregate in the semis by his old club Barca, the eventual winners.

2015-16

A hat-trick of semi-final disappointments for Guardiola at Bayern was completed when the team were knocked out on the away goals rule by Atletico Madrid.

Manchester City

2016-17

City’s maiden Champions League campaign under Guardiola ended at the last-16 stage with a thrilling tie against Monaco. City won the first leg 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium before a 3-1 away loss saw Monaco – for whom a teenage Kylian Mbappe was among the stars – get through on away goals.

2017-18

A year later, it was a quarter-final exit for City as they lost their all-English tie with Liverpool 5-1 on aggregate. The damage was done early, with Guardiola’s men conceding three times in the opening 31 minutes of the first leg at Anfield.

2018-19

While Guardiola guided City to a domestic treble, it was another quarter-final elimination in Europe and again at the hands of a Premier League rival. Tottenham advanced on away goals after a 4-4 draw over two legs, the second of which, a 4-3 win for City, memorably saw Raheem Sterling denied a winner in stoppage time by VAR.

2019-20

Having got past Real in the last 16, City once more failed to get beyond the quarter-finals as they were beaten 3-1 by Lyon in a single-match tie in Lisbon.

2020-21

It appeared City’s time in the Champions League may finally have come, but they fell short at the final hurdle after Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game in Porto to secure the trophy for Chelsea.

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