Pep Guardiola is a renowned manager after his many accomplishments at different teams. His most infamous run was in Barcelona with Lionel Messi. Now at Manchester City, he’s showing that he is still a well-respected manager. Although City didn’t win the Premier League title this year, Guardiola is on the brink of having 30 trophies under his belt.
Barcelona FC
Guardiola started his run in 2008 at Barcelona. In his first season, he was able to bring his team to glory with winning the La Liga title, Champions League and Copa Del Rey. This was the start of a historical manager in the making.
In his second season, Barca was able to win the Super Copa de Espana, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. He had six overall titles only in two years.
His 2010 season was a great year for Barca. This was a super team with Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol. This dynamite team was able to win the Super Copa de Espana again, Champions League, and bring a heavy defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid for the La Liga title.
In his final season with Barca, Guardiola locked down on four more titles. This gave him 14 trophy titles, more than any other Barca manager.
Bayern Munich
Guardiola spent a year on sabbatical in New York. He then made a move to Bundesliga to coach Bayern Munich. Although he wasn’t able to close down on as many titles as he did at Barca, it was still an impressive run.
In his first year, the team beat Chelsea to win the Europa Super Cup, Club World Cup, DFB Pokal and got the Bundesliga title.
Then the second time was a smaller statement for Guardiola. He lost the Bundesliga title to Borussia Dortmund that year and lost the Champions League to Barca.
In his final season with Munich, they were knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Atletico Madrid. However, they did win Bundesliga and DFB Pokal that year.
Manchester City
At City, Guardiola has met his Barca legacy and has been amazing for the team. The first year, City placed third in Premier League. However, they were knocked out early in the Champions League by Monaco.
His 2018 season was better. City was able to clasp the League Cup and Premier League titles.
The following year was a blowout. City was able to win the Community Shield over Chelsea, win the League Cup, Premier League and FA Cup titles.
Even with the pandemic season, Guardiola has accomplished a lot. The team defended the Community Shield and League Cup titles. They also placed second in Premier League. The team was also cleared to play in Champions League next year after an overturn decision on their ban.
All of these titles have placed Guardiola with 29 trophies. There is a chance for him to win one other one this year with the Champions League. They will have their game against Real Madrid on Aug. 7.
Guardiola reflected on the supposed poor Premier League season after the FA Cup semi-final game defeat against Arsenal.
“We didn’t play a good game, we weren’t sufficiently prepared, if you don’t play the 90 minutes in a semi-final, this can happen, we haven’t played well, it can happen, we’re human,” Guardiola told BBC.
“You don’t have to be a genius to realize that we have to play at a better level against Real Madrid if we want to have a chance.”
If Guardiola and Man City can close on the Champions League title this year, then Guardiola will have 30 trophies. This continues his legacy of a good manager, as other great ones start to arise. Jurgen Klopp and Frank Lampard are also building their legacies as great football managers. But Guardiola will always stand out from the crowd.
