Madrid have met two different Guardiolas in the Champions League
In 2011 Guardiola knocked Madrid out at the semi-finals with Barcelona. In 2014 Madrid had their revenge by beating his Bayern side 5-0 (agg.) at the same stage.
Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid will cross paths again in a Champions League tie for the third time in history. It will be with the third different team with which Pep will face Los Blancos in Europe, after having previously done so with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, with two very different outcomes.
The first meeting occurred in the semi-finals in 2010-11, the famous season which saw the “Tormenta de Clásicos” with Jose Mourinho on the Madrid bench. Between April 16 and May 4, 2011 Mourinho and Guardiola faced each other four times in just 18 days.
Madrid had come in to first leg after winning the Copa del Rey final against Valencia and fell 2-0 at home, with Messi scoring a brace. The return leg was played with little emotion and ended 1-1, with Madrid failing to really trouble El Blaugrana at home. Guardiola’s men marched on to the final, where they beat Manchester United 3-1.
Guardiola’s Bayern vs Real Madrid
Three years later in 2013-14, the paths of Guardiola and Real Madrid crossed again in the Champions League but the scenario was totally different. Madrid began their post-Mourinho stage with Ancelotti on the bench, while Guardiola was in the middle of his first season at the head of Bayern. This meeting also happened in the semi-finals.
Madrid came through the first leg at the Bernabéu with a 1-0 advantage but everything was open for the second leg at a stadium where Madrid had traditionally suffered a lot. Ancelotti’s side, however, played the perfect match, winning 4-0 and leaving the aggregate score at 5-0 – a historic result for Madrid in Europe.
That season the Champions League trophy ended up at the Bernabéu, after Madrid beat Atlético 4-1 after extra time in the final that will always be remembered for Sergio Ramos’ headed equaliser in injury time.
Now with the score tied at Guardiola 1, Madrid 1, the balance is set to swing in favour of one side or the other. Madrid already now Guardiola’s two sides: the impenetrable Barcelona of 2011 and the vulnerable version of Bayern n 2014. Now, he arrives at his worst moment as coach of City but still retaining the respect that the Bernabéu has for him since his time as Barcelona coach.