Pep Guardiola's stint at Manchester City is considered by many as very successful, considering the amount of trophies he has won over a short period of time. Without any doubt he has been successful throughout his stay at Stay at England, but there remains a trophy that has eluded him since his last season at Barcelona, the Champions League. He has been close to winning it on numerous occasions, but always comes up short at the dying minute.
When he left Barcelona, he proceeded to the Bundesliga, as a coach to one of the biggest clubs in the league, Bayern Munich. He won a lot of trophies there, albeit all being domestic titles. In the Champions League, he did his best to lay his hands on the most coveted trophy in European Club football, all to no avail. His Stint at Bayern Munich saw him reach the Semifinals of the competition on three occasions. In his first season he was defeated 5-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid. In his second season he lost 5-3 on aggregate against Barcelona, with Lionel Messi Scoring the famous "Boateng, Twist and Turn goal". In his third season, he was eliminated by Athletico Madrid on away goals.
HIS STINT AT MANCHESTER CITY
In his first season as the manager of Manchester City, he was eliminated in the RO16, by Monaco on away goals after the game finished 6-6 on aggregate. IN his second season, his Champions League curse continued as he was eliminated by Tottenham on away goals after the second leg ended 4-4 on aggregate. In the second Leg, Guardiola thought he had grabbed a stoppage time winner when Raheem Sterling converted from a Sergio Aguero's Pass in the 93rd Minute but the goal was eventually ruled out for an offside on Aguero, silencing the loud Etihad Stadium. Later that season, he won the Premier League on 100 points.
In his third season he was eliminated by Lyon 3-1, thanks to a late Moussa Dembele double, which came after Raheem Sterling missed the target with the goal gaping. In his fourth season, he finally reached the finals of the Champions League. This was perceived by all to be his best season for a shot at the Champions League, but "he overthought" and started the game with no defensive midfielder. During the game his team saw waves and waves of Chelsea attack and ended up conceding a goal which turned out to be the winner.
This season wasn't any different from previous seasons; they had good performances in the Premier League but fell short in the Chamionship, this time in a more painful fashion. He won the first leg 4-3 at the Etihad, with his players missing a lot of big chances that they would later rue in the Second Leg at the Bernabeu. In the second leg, City started off well, scoring the first goal and leading by 2 goals on aggregate. At this stage, Real Madrid needed to score two goals in 30 minutes to turn the tie around but the goal wasn't forthcoming. In the 90th minute, as Machester City went all defensive and Real Madrid capitalized on it, scoring 2 goals in barely 2 minutes and turned the game on its head. Earlier this season, the away goal rule was scrapped; otherwise Madrid would have won directly. But the goals resulted in Extratime, where Karim Benzema coolly dispatched a penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way. Real Madrid maintained their unwavering determination until the final whistle.
They ended City and Guardiola's hopes of winning the Champions League trophy this season, while they were just minutes away from a second Champions League finals in two years. Pep Guardiola has unleashed all in his arsenal and also used his best tactics but always ended up coming up short, it was painful, but that was the price they had to pay for playing without a Top Striker this season.
Heading into next season, they look to reinforce the already formidable squad, hoping to sign a midfielder and a top striker. In the top striker role, Erling Haaland has been rumored to be the favorite to take up that role. We would see if the recruitment of other big names would help them win the Champions League Title. Only time would tell.
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