After Barcelona breezed past Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final, many of us wondered, "How many European Cups will Pep Guardiola end up with?"
At the same time, United's mega-rich rivals Manchester City had just qualified for their maiden Champions League campaign. It seemed as if it would be only a matter of time before they were European champions thanks to Sheikh Mansour's billions.
Fast forward 12 years, though, and neither Guardiola or City have touched the European Cup since. Now City boss, Guardiola will be desperate to end their wait this season... but there are no guarantees. Here is the story of Guardiola's long and painful run in Europe.
Pep's near misses
With the likes of Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Xavi and Lionel Messi in his team, Guardiola was tipped to defend Barcelona's Champions League crown during the 2011/12 campaign. And for a while, it seemed as if the Spanish giants would do that.
Barcelona's early season form in the competition was superb. They even thumped Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 at the Camp Nou, with Messi scoring five times. Yet sometimes, it's just not meant to be. That was the case when Barcelona drew Chelsea in the semi-finals.
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The Blues won the first leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge before something remarkable unfolded at the Camp Nou. Chelsea managed to secure a 2-2 draw with 10 players, as their skipper John Terry was sent off during the first-half. Messi even missed a penalty!
Chelsea knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League in April 2012 (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)Do you think Pep Guardiola will win the Champions League again? Let us know in the comments below!
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... UN-BEL-IEVABLE!" screamed an excitable Gary Neville down the commentary microphone as Fernando Torres scored a last-minute goal to confirm Barcelona's fate. It proved to be Guardiola's last European game in charge.
After a one-year sabbatical, Guardiola returned to management in the summer of 2013. Bayern Munich, the Champions League holders, gave the Spaniard perhaps the most appealing job in European football. They seemed destined for continental success.
Guardiola cleaned up in Germany - winning three consecutive Bundesliga titles and two German Cups - but European glory eluded him. That disappointing run started with a 5-0 aggregate semi-final defeat to Real Madrid - Guardiola's former rivals - in April 2014.
Bayern were dumped out in the semi-finals again the following year - this time at the hands of an inspired Messi and Barcelona - while Atletico Madrid completed a hat-trick of last-four defeats for Guardiola in May 2016. The Spaniard was outdone by the Spanish.
As Guardiola said goodbye to Germany in May 2016, his failure to win the Champions League became a stain on his CV. It was imperative that he secured a third European Cup as a manager at his next club - City - to silence his growing army of doubters.
Manchester City woes
Carlos Tevez famously refused to come off the bench for Manchester City in September 2011 (Bongarts/Getty Images)City's woes in Europe are probably best summed up by their first campaign. Roberto Mancini's side were dumped out of the Champions League in the group stage during the 2011/12 season, despite picking up three wins and 10 points. How unlucky.
That European campaign will forever be remembered for Carlos Tevez's refusal to come on during the loss at Bayern (no, Guardiola was not in charge of the German side by that point). Mancini was fuming and did not play Tevez again for six months.
"If I have my way he will be out," raged the Italian. "He's finished with me. If we want to improve as a team Carlos can't play with us. With me, he is finished."
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Things went from bad to worse the following season, when City finished bottom of their group. They were then knocked out by Barcelona in the last 16 in each of the next two seasons, while a semi-final exit to Real Madrid in April 2016 restored some confidence.
Guardiola's arrival in the summer of 2016 was supposed to push City to the next level. The former Barcelona chief has done that domestically - winning four Premier League titles in six years and a host of cups - but European success has continued to elude him.
City were knocked out of Europe by Monaco during Guardiola's first season, while back-to-back quarter-final defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham were very disappointing considering their domestic success. For some reason, they just could not crack Europe.
City's nadir came in February 2020, when they were handed a two-year ban from European competitions for "serious breaches" of UEFA's financial fair play regulations. Although the ban was overturned four months later, it summed up their relationship with Europe.
Then, in August 2020, they were dumped out in the quarter-finals of a delayed Champions League campaign by Lyon - of all teams - to mark Guardiola's eighth consecutive failure in Europe. "It's a different year, same stuff," moaned midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
At last, Guardiola reached his third Champions League final as a manager in May 2021. Pitted against Chelsea, City were the obvious favourites for the game. Yet they delivered a poor performance in Lisbon, as the Blues won 1-0 thanks to Kai Havertz's strike.
Pep Guardiola's side lost the 2021 Champions League final (Getty Images)Guardiola was slammed for the defeat. He did not start a single holding midfielder or centre-forward, leaving pundits perplexed. Jamie O'Hara called City "bottle jobs" on talkSPORT before adding, "An absolute disaster of a team selection from Pep Guardiola".
For all their domestic success, City had become a bit of a joke in Europe; a meme for rival fans on social media. They only further added to this reputation last May, when they completed a remarkable collapse against Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Boasting a two-goal advantage in added time, City conceded twice to force another 30 minutes. Karim Benzema then scored the winner for Madrid. "You could not write it," former Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Steve McManaman, who played for both clubs, told BT Sport, "I know Manchester City have had problems in this competition before but this was the most brutal way to go out, We didn’t think it was going to end like that!"
Guardiola described the defeat as "tough", while fans of rival clubs laughed at City's misfortune. There is only way for City to be taken seriously as European heavyweight, and that is by winning the Champions League. Could 2023 be, at long last, their year?
City face RB Leipzig in the second leg of their last 16 tie at the Etihad on Tuesday night, with the score level at 1-1. Guardiola's side are considered as one of the favourites for the tournament - despite their poor record in Europe - thanks to its openness.
Barcelona, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain are all out, while one of Liverpool and Real Madrid will join them on Wednesday night. "There's not an outstanding team," Premier League winner Chris Sutton told the BBC. It is an opportunity City must take.
Guardiola knows he will be judged on his European success with City. "Absolutely, I'll be judged on that," he said on Monday. "Before my first game in the Champions League [with City], people said I was here to win it. I said 'what?' I don't know, but I accept it."
Therefore, Guardiola has to win the Champions League before he leaves Manchester. He must fix the one critique of his glittering managerial career. If he does not, fans will always wonder how this all-conquering English team never put Europe to the sword.
Some claim Guardiola can only win the Champions League with Messi. Well, it is time for the City boss to prove those people wrong.
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