For the first time in 16 seasons – Pep Guardiola fails to reach the Champions League Last 16

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Real Madrid 6-3 Man City 

©TM/IMAGO

Manchester City made history for all the wrong reasons on Wednesday night, as they crashed out of the Champions League at the play-off stage when they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Following a 3-2 defeat to the Spanish and European champions in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, the result means that Pep Guardiola’s side lost the tie to an aggregate score of 6-3 and depart the competition despite having the largest squad market value in all of European football with a combined value of €1.3 billion. 

Considering the inconsistency and utter turmoil that has dogged Man City’s Premier League campaign this season, defeat to Madrid in the knock-out rounds of the Champions League won’t come as a huge surprise to most football fans. Especially when we consider that the English champions were without star striker Erling Haaland for the second leg in the Spanish capital. However, elimination from Europe’s premier competition at this stage of the season is far from ideal for a club like Man City who have genuine aspirations of winning the European Cup each season. And, perhaps even more damning than that is the new lows the defeat plunges Guardiola to in comparison to the rest of his managerial career. 

Indeed, Wednesday night’s poor result was Man City’s fifth defeat in the Champions League this season which means the English giants have lost more games in this season’s European campaign than the last three combined. And for Guardiola it represents a hallowing drop off in form as one of Europe’s most accomplished managers. Over the course of the club’s 10 games in the tournament, his Man City side managed just 1.1 points per game, which is considerably less than last season’s 2.5 points per game and comfortably the worst return for the Spanish tactician in his entire career. As such, this season’s Champions League run was also the first time in 16 seasons that a team coached by Guardiola has never reached the Round of 16 in Europe’s top tournament. 

As we can see in the graphic above, Man City’s problems this season have had a severe impact on a team that are used to seriously challenging for club football’s most prestigious trophy. In each of the last seven seasons, Guardiola’s teams have reached at least the quarter-finals of the competition, along with two appearances in the final and the all-important title win in the 2022/23 season. Such momentous days now seem like a lifetime ago, as Guardiola and his side are forced to return to England with little to show for their troubles in Europe this season and with serious questions marks over this team and, perhaps, their previously infallible manager.