Guardiola’s European reputation waning as City host Liverpool
Pep Guardiola is revered as one of the best managers in the world, but his recent record in the Champions League leaves something to be desired.
It wasn’t so much the defeat, but the manner of the defeat that left Manchester City fans in tears following Saturday’s derby. After all, with the gap between first and second still standing at 13 points, their team will clinch the Premier League title at some point over the next few weeks. That is in no doubt. Instead, this was the reaction to a dawning realization.
In the space of a week, City’s season has sunk into something of an anticlimax. They had the chance to secure the league title by beating Manchester United on Saturday, yet somehow contrived to let a 2-0 lead slip, losing 3-2. More concerning, though, was the capitulation at Anfield just a few days earlier.
Pep Guardiola’s side were among the favorites to win this season’s Champions League, but now require an almighty comeback to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Liverpool in Tuesday’s second leg. For all the money spent, for all the stated ambition, City now risk crashing out in the Champions League quarterfinals having only made the round of 16 last season. Is that really good enough?
Keep in mind Guardiola was appointed in the first place to establish Manchester City as a true European force. They’d already won the Premier League twice in the five years that preceded his arrival at the Etihad Stadium. The final frontier was Europe, and City believed Guardiola was the man to help them conquer it.
But on closer inspection, Guardiola’s recent record in the Champions League warrants scrutiny. Last week’s collapse against Liverpool wasn’t an anomaly. In fact, it was reflective of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach’s Champions League past. City’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool was unexpected, but maybe it shouldn’t have been.
While Guardiola’s legend is defined by what he has achieved in the Champions League, winning the competition twice in three years between 2009 and 2011, he has failed to make the final in the last six years. It will be seven years should City exit to Liverpool this week.
Many have been quick to point out that, following Manchester United’s last 16 loss to Sevilla, Jose Mourinho’s style of play no longer works at the top level of the European game, but the same argument could be made against Guardiola. Is his recent record — three semifinals and a round of 16 with two of the best teams in Europe — really the mark of a predominant force?
Time and time again when faced with an opposition side willing to press high and attack, Guardiola’s teams falter. It happened last season when City faced Monaco and it happened season after season during the Catalan’s time at Bayern Munich as well. When things go wrong in Europe, they tend to go spectacularly wrong.
Had Guardiola adopted a spot of pragmatism, the Bavarians, who made it to three consecutive semifinals under his charge, but no further, might have won the Champions League. In 2014-15, Bayern conceded five goals over two legs against Barcelona, and lost 4-0 at home to Real Madrid the season before that. Guardiola seemingly doesn’t know how to stem an opposition side when they have their tails up, as demonstrated by City’s performance at Anfield last week.
Of course, Guardiola’s team could still pull off a comeback on Tuesday, rendering that first leg defeat a mere footnote. But lessons must be learned from what happened against Liverpool and Manchester United last week. Going on his Champions League defeats in recent seasons, this is Guardiola’s biggest fault: He fails to learn from his mistakes.
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What progress have City made in the defensive side of the game since last season? Sure, they’ve developed immeasurably elsewhere, but the six goals conceded against Liverpool and United in the past week highlighted that City’s weakness can still be found at the back. Guardiola has still to truly address this.
Until he does, City will struggle at the top of the European game. They say the definition of madness is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. That’s precisely what Guardiola has done in the Champions League for the past five seasons since leaving Barcelona.
Over the course of a league season, a sample size of 38 games, Guardiola’s philosophy shines through. It’s why he’s won six league titles in his last nine seasons as a manager. In the Champions League, though, there is increased scope for upsets in one-off ties. This is where his philosophy can be undone. It doesn’t account for an opposition side, like Liverpool last week, with the wind in their sails.
This will still go down as a successful season for Guardiola, even if Tuesday results in a Champions League exit. He remains one of the best managers going, maybe even the very best. But it might be time top stop hailing Guardiola as a master of the continental game. There’s very little to support that notion.