No manager has lost more UCL semi-finals than Pep Guardiola
The Manchester City boss, formerly of Bayern Munich and Barcelona, has built some fantastic teams, but often falls short when it matters most.
It was another unbelievable night of Champions League football at the Santiago Bernabéu as Manchester City led the aggregate score by two goals going into the 89th minute of the semi-final second leg. Surely a final in Paris against Premier League rivals Liverpool was lined up as a chance to end their long wait to be crowned Kings of Europe. Real Madrid had other ideas...
Guardiola again struggles with semi
So, with another semi-final disappointment for manager Pep Guardiola comes the realisation that this is becoming far too common an issue, especially given the strength of teams that he has been in charge of for these games. This loss with the English champions, one of the most expensively-assembled squads ever, is added to three with his previous club Bayern Munich (2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16) and two with Barcelona (2009-10 and 2011-12). A grand total of six Champions League losses at the entry door to the showpiece game.
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6 - Pep Guardiola has now suffered six eliminations at the semi-final stage of the UEFA Champions League (also 2009-10 and 2011-12 with Barcelona, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 with Bayern Munich); the joint-most of any manager, along with José Mourinho. Crushing. pic.twitter.com/gCtSnhvVR2
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 4, 2022
Those defeats mean that the Catalan boss now has the joint-most UCL semi-final losses along with former LaLiga and Premier League rival José Mourinho.