Champions League: Pep's sadness!

Pep Guardiola is known as one of the most talented and excellent strategists today. That is indisputable because in addition to possessing his own Tiki-taka football philosophy that captivates the hearts of many football fans. The Spanish strategist is known as "King Midas" when he became one of the few champions in the top 3 tournaments of the continent.

The pinnacle of Pep's coaching career was associated with the overwhelming success of Barcelona, ​​the team that Pep was associated with both as a player and a coach. During his tenure, the Spanish strategist helped the Catalan giant reap many successes in all arenas. They brought home 2 Champions League titles; 3 La Liga titles... Especially the "Divine Sextuple" that Pep and his students won in the 2010-2011 season.

Pep Guardiola was successful in the Champions League when he was managing Barcelona. Photo: Getty

Besides the title successes, Pep has turned Barca into a terrifying empire for European football with the divine Tiki-taka style of play. He has also elevated Messi to become a contemporary football legend, he has created the Dream team with the foundations for Barca until now such as: Busquets, Pique, Messi...

After leaving the team that made his name, Pep also achieved a lot of success at Bayer Munich and Manchester City. He helped these teams become unrivaled in the domestic league. However, ironically, the fate in the Champions League arena often turned away from the former Barcelona coach.

In fact, from the 2010/2011 season until now, Pep has never once enjoyed the atmosphere of a final match in the most prestigious arena of the continent. In the 2013/14 season, Pep's Bayern lost to Real Madrid with a score of 0-4 right at home, officially saying goodbye to the Champions League with a final defeat of up to 0-5 against the White Vulture.

In the 2015/16 season, Pep once again had to stop at the semi-finals and this time, Bayern was eliminated by Atletico Madrid.

Pep's first season at Man City also saw a disaster of his own making in the Champions League. Man City were eliminated from the tournament by Monaco in the round of 16. Last season, Manchester City could not overcome their compatriot Liverpool in the quarter-finals.

“The third time is too much”, after the disastrous defeats in the knockout round, Pep will learn his own lessons. However, this season, the 48-year-old strategist once again had to regretfully stop at the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The opponent that defeated them was not a strange guest, the team that in the domestic league is often the loser of the blue half of Manchester.

More importantly, in both the first and second leg against Tottenham, Pep's team had many advantages in terms of personnel, playing at home in the second leg. Meanwhile, coach Pochestino's team was at a disadvantage in terms of force when many of their key players were injured. But it is unclear whether it was due to subjectivity or other reasons that the Spanish strategist's team was defeated painfully by the away goal rule.

The reason for the above failures, in addition to the fact that the blue half of Manchester team is often mentally tense in the Champions League arena, Pep's arrangement, use of formation, personnel on the field and choice of match approach also partly led to the above unfortunate failures.

Of course, the Arab boss brought Pep Guardiola to lead Man City not only to win the Premier League. What the rich boss wants is the prestigious Champions League title. The title that is still missing in the collection of the Etihad team. The Citizen also needs to win the Champions League to be recognized as a giant of European football.

The Spanish strategist's sadness when he continued to fail in the quarter-finals of the 2018-19 Champions League with Man City. Photo: Getty

Therefore, the Arab billionaire has met Pep's requirements by bringing many quality players to the Etihad Stadium. If we consider the depth of the quality of the squad at the present time, it is difficult for any team to own as many quality players in all three lines as Man City. However, in football, money does not necessarily bring success to the team. In 3 years leading the blue half of Manchester. Pep spent up to half a billion pounds, but the Champions League semi-finals are still a luxury for Man City.

It is a sad thing for the Spanish strategist that the last person to take the blue team to the European semi-finals was Manuel Pellegrini, his predecessor who was replaced by Pep Guardiola. Meanwhile, Tottenham did not spend a penny in the last two transfer windows but still did what the Arab owner always wanted with Pep in the coaching chair.

There is no denying that Pep is building Manchester City into a team that has no rivals in the domestic arena. However, the consecutive failures in the Champions League arena are a sadness that is hard to swallow for the blue half of Manchester and Pep Guardiola.