Pep Guardiola

Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛb ɡwəɾðiˈɔɫə]; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Manchester City.

Regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Guardiola was a creative and technically gifted midfielder who usually played in a deep-lying playmaking role as a defensive midfielder. He spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, forming a part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" that won the club's first European Cup in 1992, and four successive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. He later captained the team from 1997 to 2001. He then played for Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico while training to be a manager. While playing in Italy, he served a four-month ban for a positive drug test, although he was cleared of wrongdoing twice on appeal in 2009 before the Courts of Justice of the Italian Football Federation and the Federal Anti-Doping Courts of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). Guardiola was capped 47 times for Spain, winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 1992, and later appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He also played friendly matches for Catalonia.

After retiring as a player, Guardiola became coach of Barcelona B, and in 2008 he succeeded Frank Rijkaard as the first team manager. In his first season as manager, Guardiola guided Barcelona to a treble, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest manager to win the Champions League. The following season, Guardiola led Barcelona to win the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and a second La Liga title. In 2011, after leading Barcelona to another La Liga, Supercopa de España and UEFA Champions League, Guardiola was awarded the Catalan Parliament's Gold Medal, their highest honour. That same year, Guardiola was also named the FIFA World Coach of the Year. In Guardiola's fourth season, he won the Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and the Supercopa de España. On 30 June 2012, Guardiola announced his departure from Barcelona.

After a sabbatical period, Bayern Munich announced on 16 January 2013 that Guardiola would join the club as manager for the 2013–14 season following the retirement of Jupp Heynckes. In his first season at the club, Guardiola won the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He finished his term at Bayern with seven trophies won, winning the Bundesliga all three seasons he was there, including two domestic doubles.

As a manager, Guardiola won 14 trophies in the first four years of his managing career. He is one of the most successful managers in the world and is considered by a number of players, managers and commentators to be one of the best managers in the world.

Barcelona

Born in Santpedor, Barcelona, Catalonia, Guardiola joined La Masia at the age of 13 and rose through the ranks at the youth academy of Barcelona for six years, making his début in 1990 against Cádiz. As Phil Ball writes in Morbo,

"In his first week at the club, Johan Cruyff turned up unannounced at the 'Mini' stadium, a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by the youth and B teams. Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young lad playing on the right side of midfield. 'Guardiola – good lad' came the reply. Cruyff ignored the comment and told Rexach to move him into the middle for the second half, to play as pivot. It was a difficult position to adapt to and one not used by many teams in Spain at the time. Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved up into the first-team in 1990 he became the pivot of the Dream Team."

Johan Cruyff utilised the young midfielder in the absence of the suspended Guillermo Amor. He became a first team regular in the 1991–92 season and at only 20 years old, he was a key component of a side that won La Liga and the European Cup. The prestigious Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo heralded Guardiola as the finest player in the world under the age of 21. Cruyff's "Dream Team" went on to retain La Liga title in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons. The side was strengthened by the recent signing of Romário, again reached the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final, but were beaten 4–0 by Fabio Capello's Milan side in Athens. Cruyff left in 1996, with Barcelona finishing fourth in the 1994–95 season and third in the 1995–96 season, but Guardiola retained his position at the centre of Barça's midfield.

In the 1996–97 season, Barcelona, this time led by Bobby Robson, won three cups, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, and the European Cup Winners' Cup. Much of the Dream Team had by this time left, with new signings such as Luís Figo and Ronaldo taking over from Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. In 1997, Guardiola was named as Barcelona captain under new manager Louis van Gaal, but a calf muscle injury ruled Guardiola out of most of the 1997–98 season, in which Barcelona won a league and cup double. At the end of the season, Barcelona rejected offers from Roma and Parma (of around 300 million pesetas) for Guardiola. After prolonged and complicated contract talks, Guardiola signed a new contract with the Catalan club which extended his stay until 2001.

Guardiola returned to action the following season and Barcelona once again won La Liga, thanks largely to the performances of Rivaldo and Luís Figo. On 8 June 1998, Guardiola underwent surgery to try to solve once and for all the problems that he was experiencing with his calf which had led to him missing the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Spain. A largely disappointing 1999–2000 season ended once again in surgery as Guardiola missed the last three months of the season due to a serious ankle injury. Barcelona didn't win any silverware during the 2000–01 season and finished fourth place in the league, but qualifying for the Champions League.

On 11 April 2001, Barcelona's captain announced his intention to leave the club after 17 years of service. He stated that it was a personal decision and, in part, a response to what he perceived as football heading in a new, more physical, direction. On 24 June 2001, Guardiola played his last match with Barça in the last game of the season against Celta de Vigo. Guardiola played 479 games in 12 seasons for the first team, winning 16 trophies. At the press conference after the Celta game, he said, "It's been a long journey. I'm happy, proud, happy with the way people treated me and I have made many friends. I cannot ask for more. I have had many years in the elite. I did not come to make history but to make my own history." He has been called the hero of a number of future Barcelona midfielders, as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas have all stated that Guardiola was their role model and hero.

Serie A

After leaving Barcelona in 2001 at age 30, Guardiola joined Italian Serie A side Brescia, as Andrea Pirlo's replacement in the deep-lying playmaking role, where he was able to play alongside Roberto Baggio and under coach Carlo Mazzone. Following his time at Brescia, Guardiola then transferred to Roma. His time in Italy, however, was unsuccessful and included a four-month ban after testing positive for nandrolone. Six years later, on 23 October 2007, Guardiola was cleared on appeal of all charges that had led to the ban. CONI, however, reopened the case against the player, because it considered the argumentation of the absolution unacceptable, but he was cleared once again on 29 September 2009. He played a number of Coppa Italia games and Champions League games, finishing with 71 games in Italy.

Al-Ahli

After his career with Brescia and Roma, in 2003, Guardiola chose to play in Qatar with Al-Ahli from Doha in the Qatar Stars League, where many fellow greats were playing, such as Gabriel Batistuta. He had rejected another offer from Manchester United, as he wanted to play elsewhere. He became a regular in the Qatar Stars League, often cited as one of the best players in the League. In 2005–06, he turned down offers from a number European sides, such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, as he felt his playing career was coming to a close.

Dorados de Sinaloa

In 2006, when Juan Manuel Lillo was appointed manager of Mexican club Dorados de Sinaloa, he recruited Guardiola to play for the club, while he was in managing school in Axocopán, Atlixco, Puebla. He subsequently played for six months, before retiring.

Spain

Guardiola made his senior debut on 14 October 1992 in 0–0 draw with Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in a World Cup qualifier. In the same year, Guardiola captained Spain when they won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games. It was in this year when he won the Bravo Award, voted the world's best player under the age of 21. Between 1992 and 2001, Guardiola played over 47 times and scored five goals for the senior Spain team. He was a member of the Spanish team during the 1994 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals, losing 2–1 to Italy. He fell out of favour with Javier Clemente, the Spain manager, due to differences and disagreement between the two, and missed out on Euro 1996. He suffered a career-threatening injury in 1998, which kept him out of the 1998 World Cup, but he later played at Euro 2000, where he led Spain to yet another quarter-final appearance, this time losing to France by the same margin, 2–1. He led the Spain midfield until his final appearance for la Roja, in 1–0 win in a friendly against Mexico on 14 November 2001, and scoring his last international goal against Sweden in a 1–1 draw, in his 45th appearance.

Catalonia

Guardiola has also played for and has served as an advocate of the Catalonia football team. Between 1995 and 2005, he played seven friendly games for Catalonia.

Considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, Guardiola was a highly creative, hard-working, and elegant player, with good anticipation, tactical awareness, and an ability to read the game; throughout his career, he was deployed as a central or defensive midfielder in front of his team's back-line. Although he was competent defensively and at pressing opponents to break up play and win the ball, due to his slender build he usually functioned as a deep-lying playmaker, where he excelled courtesy of his technical ability and intelligent, efficient, precise passing game. Despite his lack of notable pace or physical attributes, Guardiola was highly regarded throughout his career for his vision, close control, passing range, positional sense, and calm composure on the ball, which enabled him to retain possession and either set the tempo of his team's play in midfield with intricate short exchanges, or switch the play or create chances with longer passes.

Guardiola was capable of being an offensive threat, due to his ability to make attacking runs or strike accurately from distance; he was also effective at creating chances or shooting on goal from set-pieces. Having served as captain of both Barcelona and the Spanish national side, he also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. Guardiola's unique playing style, which relied on creativity, technique and ball movement, rather than physicality and pace, inspired several future diminutive Spanish playmaking midfielders, such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Cesc Fàbregas.

Barcelona

B team

Guardiola coaching Barcelona B

Guardiola was appointed coach of Barcelona on 21 June 2007 with Tito Vilanova as his assistant. Under his guidance, the team subsequently won their Tercera División group and qualified for the 2008 Segunda División B playoffs, which the team won, thereby achieving promotion. FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta announced in May 2008 that Guardiola would be appointed manager of the senior Barcelona squad to replace Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2007–08 season. According to a 2013 biography of Michael Laudrup, he and not Guardiola was Laporta's first choice.

First team

2008–09 season

Pep Guardiola managing Barcelona.

Upon being appointed, Guardiola revealed that Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o and others were not part of his plans for the coming season. By the time of the announcement, Guardiola had already offloaded full back Gianluca Zambrotta to Milan, attacking midfielder Giovani dos Santos to Tottenham Hotspur and midfielder Edmílson to Villarreal. Deco went to Chelsea while Ronaldinho joined Zambrotta in Milan. Lilian Thuram was initially set to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer, but the discovery of a heart condition put a stop to the move, and the veteran retired to tend to his health. Oleguer signed with Ajax, Santiago Ezquerro was released by Barça and Marc Crosas was sold to Celtic. The fate of Eto'o took much of the summer to unravel, with the Cameroonian linked with several clubs, but Guardiola finally declared that he would stay after his dedication in training and participation in the pre-season.

In association with Barcelona Director of Sport Txiki Begiristain, several new signings were made by Guardiola – Dani Alves and Seydou Keita arrived from Sevilla; Martín Cáceres from Villarreal by way of Recreativo de Huelva; Gerard Piqué returned from Manchester United; and Alexander Hleb was signed from Arsenal. Henrique was also signed from Palmeiras, but was immediately loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen. In interviews with the press, Guardiola stressed a harder work ethic than before, but also a more personal approach during training and a closer relationship with his players. Along with the new signings, Guardiola promoted canteranos Sergio Busquets, Pedro and Jeffrén to the first team squad.

Guardiola's first competitive game as coach was in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, in which Barça comfortably beat Polish club Wisła Kraków 4–0 in the first leg at home. They then lost 1–0 in the second leg, but progressed with a 4–1 aggregate victory. Promoted Numancia also defeated Barcelona in the opening match-day of the La Liga, but the team then went on an undefeated streak for over 20 matches to move to the top of the league. Barça maintained their spot atop La Liga's table, securing their first league title since 2006 when rivals Real Madrid lost at Villarreal on 16 May 2009. The most important match however was on 2 May when they defeated Real Madrid 6–2 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The league title was the second piece of silverware in Guardiola's first season at the Camp Nou. Earlier on 13 May 2009, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, defeating Athletic Bilbao by 4–1.

Guardiola finished the season by leading Barça to the final of the Champions League, where they beat Manchester United 2–0. In doing so, they became the first Spanish club to win the domestic cup, the league, and the European club titles (the treble) in the same season. The treble winning season is regarded as one of the club's finest seasons in its historyFurthermore, Guardiola became the youngest man to coach a Champions League winning team.

2009–10 season

Pep Guardiola in 2010.

During Guardiola's second season as manager, Barcelona swapped Samuel Eto'o and €46 million in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimović of Internazionale. Many players left the club in the same transfer window — Eiður Guðjohnsen was sold to Monaco; Sylvinho and Albert Jorquera's contracts ended; and other players were loaned out, including Alexander Hleb to VfB Stuttgart, Martín Cáceres to Juventus, Alberto Botía to Sporting de Gijón, and Víctor Sánchez to Xerez. Barcelona started the season defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de España and Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Super Cup. On 25 September 2009, Barcelona gave Guardiola his 50th professional victory, away against Málaga and on 19 December, they were crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions for the first time in their history.

Guardiola finished the calendar year 2009 with a record six trophies, the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup, becoming the first manager in history to do so. In January 2010, Guardiola became Barcelona's longest serving Spanish coach, overtaking the record previously held by Josep Samitier. That same month, on the 20th, he agreed to a one-year contract extension to keep him with Barcelona until the end of the 2010–11 season.

In February 2010, Guardiola coached his 100th match for Barcelona's first team. His record stood at 71 wins, 19 draws and 10 losses with 242 goals for and 76 against. On 10 April 2010, he became the first manager in Barcelona's history to beat Real Madrid four times in a row in El Clásico. Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the 2009–10 Champions League, but lost 3–2 on aggregate to José Mourinho's Internazionale. Despite this, they managed to win their 20th La Liga title with 99 points by beating Real Valladolid 4–0 at home. At the time, this was the highest points total ever gained amongst any of Europe's major leagues. The La Liga title was Guardiola's seventh trophy as manager of the club, tying Ferdinand Daučík for second behind Johan Cruyff and his 11 trophies.

On 8 June 2010, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) fined Guardiola €15,000 following a formal inquiry opened by the Competition Committee regarding his actions and comments during and after a match against Almería on 6 March 2010. Guardiola approached the fourth official with, according to the official report, malicious intent, berating the official and speaking into his microphone with phrases such as, "You are calling everything wrong." Following the match, Guardiola accused Carlos Clos Gómez and his assistant José Luis Gallego Galdino of "lying" in their match report. Barcelona were given ten days to appeal the sanction. TV replays supported Guardiola's assertions. The game ended 2–2.

2010–11 season

Guardiola's third season in charge saw the departure of two players who had arrived last season: Dmytro Chygrynskiy returned to Shakhtar Donetsk and Zlatan Ibrahimović joined Milan on loan. Rafael Márquez and Thierry Henry were released from their contracts and both moved to New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS); Yaya Touré also left the team and moved to English Premier League side Manchester City. The club signed Adriano from Sevilla, David Villa from Valencia and Javier Mascherano from Liverpool. On 14 July 2010, Guardiola signed a new contract to stay with Barcelona until June 2011.

On 21 August, Barcelona beat Sevilla 5–3 on aggregate to win the 2010 Supercopa de España, his second in a row. On 29 November 2010, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5–0, giving Guardiola five straight wins in El Clásico. On 8 February 2011, Guardiola accepted the club's offer for a one-year deal extension, signing a contract until June 2012. On 16 February, in the first leg Champions League first knockout round, Barcelona were defeated by Arsenal 2–1 at Emirates Stadium. The defeat prolonged Guardiola's record of never having won the away leg of a Champions League knockout tie. On 8 March, in the second leg of the Champions League first knockout round, Barcelona defeated Arsenal 3–1, thus winning 4–3 on aggregate, moving them into the quarter-finals.

Early April saw Barcelona move eight points clear of second placed Real Madrid in their domestic league after a key away win against Villarreal, making the most of Real Madrid's home loss against Sporting de Gijón earlier on the same day. Barcelona managed to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth year — last three under Guardiola — in a row after thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 6–1 on aggregate.

Barcelona continued their La Liga crusades for the second El Clásico in the Santiago Bernabéu, which ended 1–1. Lionel Messi scored for his team from penalty spot after Raúl Albiol was sent off. It was later replied by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from a penalty kick in the 80th minute of the match. Guardiola suffered his first final defeat during the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for in the 103rd minute of the match during extra time, giving the club the first title since 2008, as well as José Mourinho's first title for his new club. In the Champions League, however, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2–0 at the Bernabéu in the semi-final first leg, and after a 1–1 draw at Camp Nou, they proceeded to Guardiola's second Champions League final in three years as coach for Barcelona.

On 11 May 2011, Barcelona won the La Liga title and the club's third in a row after a 1–1 draw with Levante. On 28 May, Barcelona beat Manchester United 3–1 at Wembley Stadium to win the Champions League.

2011–12 season

Guardiola's fourth season in charge started with the departure of three long-serving Barça players: Gabriel Milito moved back to old Argentine club Independiente, Jeffrén was sold to Sporting CP and Bojan was sold to Roma. Two high-profile signings were made: Alexis Sánchez came from Udinese for €26 million plus bonuses, and Cesc Fàbregas, a former La Masia graduate, returned from Arsenal for €29 million plus bonuses. To complete the squad, two players were promoted from the youth system: Thiago and Andreu Fontàs. The season started with a 5–4 aggregate win over Real Madrid for the Supercopa de España.

Barcelona won their second trophy of the season on 26 August, beating Porto in the UEFA Super Cup final 2–0. With the trophy won against Porto, he became all-time record holder of most titles won as a coach at Barcelona. He won 12 trophies in only three years. November of the same year saw Guardiola coach his 200th match for Barça's first team. His record stood at 144 wins, 39 draws and 17 losses with 500 goals for and 143 against.

Barcelona ended the 2011 calendar year winning the Club World Cup, beating Brazilian club Santos 4–0, the widest margin in an Intercontinental Cup/Club World Cup final since changing to a single match format. This was Guardiola's 13th title of only 16 tournaments played. On 9 January 2012, he was named FIFA World Coach of the Year. On his 41st birthday, he led his side to a 2–1 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico, ensuring that he remained unbeaten against Real Madrid in regular time as a manager. On 21 April, Guardiola conceded the league title to leaders Real Madrid after they beat Barcelona 2–1 and extended their lead in the table to seven points with four matches remaining. "We have to congratulate Madrid for their win and the title that they have also won tonight," said Guardiola, after what was his side's first loss at home all season.

On 24 April, a 2–2 draw at home against Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final knocked Barcelona out of the competition on a 2–3 aggregate score. That effectively left the team with only the Copa del Rey to play for. Guardiola had faced criticism over his recent tactics and squad selections. On 27 April 2012, Guardiola announced he would step down as Barcelona's coach at the end of the 2011–12 season. He had been on a rolling contract that was renewed annually during his tenure as manager. Citing tiredness as the main reason for his decision, he also commented that four years at a club like Barça felt like an eternity.

Barcelona announced that Guardiola would be succeeded by Tito Vilanova, who would begin leading the first team at the start of the 2012–13 season. Guardiola continued to lead Barcelona to wins in the remaining La Liga games of the season, followed by a 3–0 win in the Copa del Rey final. His record of 14 trophies in four seasons has made him the most successful coach in Barcelona's history.

Sabbatical

After his time at Barcelona came to an end, Guardiola took a year's sabbatical to recover in New York City. On 7 January 2013, Guardiola came in third place for the 2012 FIFA World Coach of the Year, behind the winner Vicente del Bosque and runner-up José Mourinho. While at a news conference at the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zürich, Guardiola said, "I have taken a decision to return to coaching but beyond that no decision has been taken. I don't have a team to go to but I would like to go back to coaching."

Bayern Munich

2013–14 season

Pep Guardiola managing Bayern Munich

On 16 January 2013, it was announced that Guardiola would take over as manager of German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich after the 2012–13 season, replacing Jupp Heynckes for the following season. He addressed his first press conference as Bayern manager, on 24 June 2013, in "impressive German", and had his first training session two days later. His first official match was the German Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund, with Bayern losing 4–2. His first trophy with Bayern was the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, defeating longtime adversary José Mourinho, who had just returned to coach at Chelsea. Bayern beat ten-man Chelsea in a shoot-out after Manuel Neuer saved Romelu Lukaku's kick.

In December 2013, Guardiola won his third Club World Cup after beating Raja Casablanca in Morocco. On 25 March 2014, he led Bayern to their 23rd Bundesliga title by beating Hertha BSC 3–1 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. With seven matches remaining in the season, it was the earliest the championship had been won in Bundesliga history, breaking the record Heynckes' Bayern had set in the previous season. Guardiola broke Karl-Heinz Feldkamp's record for the longest winning streak to start his tenure at a Bundesliga club. Feldkamp was undefeated in his first 14 matches with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 1978–79 season. The streak ended at 28 when FC Augsburg defeated Bayern 1–0 on matchday 29. The streak also ended Bayern's 53–match undefeated streak.

Bayern were drawn against Real Madrid in the semi–finals of Champions League. Bayern lost the first leg 1–0 and the second leg 4–0. After the first leg, Guardiola was criticized for his tactics. However, he defended his tactics. Also in the first leg, Guardiola lost his first match at the Santiago Bernabéu. He was undefeated in his first seven matches in the stadium. Guardiola took the blame for the loss. Philipp Lahm, however, insisted "it was a collective failure and not the fault of coach Guardiola." kicker Sportmagazin "singled out" Guardiola as "the key to the crisis." Guardiola finished the 2013–14 season by winning the DFB-Pokal 2–0 in extra–time.

2014–15 season

Pep Guardiola in 2014

Pre–season started on 9 July 2014 with the first friendly match on 18 July 2014. Mario Mandžukić was sold to Atlético Madrid because he believed that the "playing style of coach Pep Guardiola simply does not fit him." On 6 August 2014, Bayern played in the 2014 MLS All-Star Game in Portland, Oregon. The all-star team was led by Timbers Coach Caleb Porter. The match ended with Bayern losing 2–1 to the All-Star squad. Separate incidents involving "harsh challenges" by Osvaldo Alonso and Will Johnson visibly enraged Guardiola and after the match he refused to shake Porter's hand. One of the tackles injured Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Bayern lost the German Super Cup 2–0 to Borussia Dortmund. He had declared before the match that "every final is important, especially in Dortmund a bit more." Guardiola used a 3–4–2–1 system in the match. Guardiola handed 17-year-old Gianluca Gaudino his first team debut in the Super Cup and made him part of the first team permanently because of "strong preparation" during pre-season. In a Champions League match, Bayern defeated Roma 7–1, Bayern's biggest away win in their Champions League history. Bayern's first league loss of the season came in a 4–1 defeat to VfL Wolfsburg. On 11 March 2015, Bayern defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 7–0, tying their largest win in Champions League history. Bayern defeated Bayer Leverkusen in a shoot–out in the quarter–finals of the DFB-Pokal. On 15 April 2015, Bayern ended a 11-match undefeated streak after losing 3–1 to Porto in Portugal. In Guardiola's 100th match as head coach, Bayern defeated Porto 6–1. With the win, Bayern reached their fourth-straight Champions League semi-final. On 28 April 2015, Bayern were knocked out of the German Cup in a shoot-out. Bayern had missed all four of their shots. In his first competitive match against Barcelona, Bayern lost 3–0. Bayern failed to get a shot on target in the match. For the first time in his career, he lost four in a row (including shoot-out loss).

2015–16 season

Pre-season began on 1 July 2015. In the Telekom Cup, Bayern finished fourth after losing to FC Augsburg in the semi-final and losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach in a shootout. Bayern lost the German Super Cup to VfL Wolfsburg on 1 August 2015, then beat Real Madrid in the Audi Cup final four days later. The competitive season started on 1 August 2015 when Bayern lost in a shoot-out to Wolfsburg in the German Super Cup. Then on 9 August 2015, Bayern won in the first round of the German Cup. In the league, Bayern won their first ten matches. The first time they dropped points in the league was on 30 October 2015 in a 0–0 scoreline against Eintracht Frankfurt and their first loss in the league was on 5 December 2015 in a 3–1 scoreline to Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the Champions League group stage, Bayern won Group F, winning five out of the six matches. Bayern's only loss in the Champions League group stage was against Arsenal on 20 October. This was Bayern's first loss in all competitions during the 2015–16 season.

On 20 December, Bayern confirmed that Guardiola was leaving the club after his contract expires at the end of the season, with Carlo Ancelotti his replacement for the 2016–17 season.

On 3 May 2016, Guardiola's Bayern Munich lost to Atlético Madrid in the champions league semi-finals stage, thereby ending Guardiola's final chance of winning a Champions League Title with the Bavarian club. Guardiola's final match was on 21 May 2016. Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund in a shootout. He finished with a record of 82 wins, 11 draws, and nine losses in the Bundesliga; a record of 14 wins, three draws, and no losses in the DFB-Pokal; a record of 23 wins, five draws, and eight losses in the UEFA Champions League. He also went a combined two wins, two draws, and two losses in the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the German Super Cup. In non–official competitions, he went a combined six wins, one draw, and one loss.

Manchester City

2016–17 season

On 1 February 2016, Manchester City signed Guardiola to a three-year contract for the start of the 2016–17 season. Manchester City lost Guardiola's first pre-season match 1–0 to Bayern Munich. On 13 August 2016, Manchester City won Guardiola's first 2016–17 Premier League season match 2–1 against Sunderland. On 11 September 2016, Guardiola won his first Manchester derby as a manager in a 1–2 victory; this was also his sixth win against his "rival" manager José Mourinho. By the end of September 2016, Guardiola had won all of his first 10 matches in charge of Manchester City and were top of the Premier League table with a four-point advantage over second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, but lost his first match as City manager, 2–0 against Tottenham Hotspur but remained one point clear in the league table ahead of the international break. After the international break and a home draw on 23 October 2016, Guardiola tied his record of going five games without a win. City's poor run continued into the EFL Cup with a 1–0 defeat to Manchester United. City's loss meant that Guardiola was without a win in his last six games in all competitions, his worst run of form in his managerial career. Manchester City lost to Everton 4–0. This was his biggest loss in domestic action.

Guardiola's City were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League by Monaco on away goals after a 6–6 aggregate draw. The second leg of the tie was his 100th game as a manager in European competition, and he arrived at that mark with the best record of any manager, 61 wins and 23 draws. This was one draw better than the previous record holder, his former manager at Barcelona, Louis van Gaal.

Under Guardiola's predecessor Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona were known for a 4–3–3 with plenty of flair with Ronaldinho being the centre point of the attack. Under Guardiola, however, the team became more disciplined with a greater focus on possession and a disciplined and aggressive pressing style. He often played a high defensive line with the full backs (particularly Dani Alves) pushing high up their respective sides while relying on the passing of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta to retain possession and employing a pressing style without the ball. During striker Samuel Eto'o's time at Barcelona, Lionel Messi was deployed on the right hand side, though following his departure Messi largely played in the centre forward role in a false nine capacity.

During the 2011–12 season, Guardiola made increasing use of the 3–4–3 system, especially when facing two attackers, using Cesc Fàbregas as an attacking midfielder and Sergio Busquets as a midfield pivot. Johan Cruyff previously had used this system as a basic tactical approach when Guardiola played for Barcelona. Guardiola employed this system in a 5–0 win against Villarreal with Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets and Éric Abidal as the back-three and Seydou Keita acting as a defensive midfield. Of note is that throughout their careers, Mascherano, Keita and Busquets had been deployed primarily as midfielders and Abidal as a full back, meaning Guardiola did not play even one central defender in the 5–0 victory. Although there are some spectators who assume the primary reason for the 3–4–3 was because he was short on defenders, in a later Champions League match against Milan, he employed this tactic with most of his players available for selection. As manager of Bayern Munich, he also employed a 3–4–3 formation during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against old club Barça.

Guardiola was born to Dolors and Valentí. He has two older sisters and a younger brother, Pere, a football agent. He is non-religious. Guardiola met his wife when he was 18. They married on 29 May 2014. They have three children named Maria, Màrius and Valentina. Following his tenure as Barcelona's manager, Guardiola stated that he would move to the United States to live in Manhattan, New York, for a year, until he decided on his future. To prepare for his upcoming position as the manager of Bayern Munich, Guardiola practised German for four to five hours per day, responding impressively at his first press conference there. Guardiola supports the political independence of Catalonia. In 2015, he confirmed that he would participate in the pro-independence coalition Together for Yes in that year's regional parliamentary election.

Player

International

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 December 1992	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Latvia	2–0	5–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2.	27 June 1994	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Bolivia	0–1	1–3	1994 World Cup
3.	14 December 1996	Mestalla, Valencia, Spain	Yugoslavia	1–0	2–0	1998 World Cup qualification
4.	12 February 1997	José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Malta	1–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualification
5.	3 June 2000	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	0–1	1–1	Friendly

Managerial

Managerial record

Performance timeline

Player

• Segunda División B: 1990–91

• La Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España: 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996
• European Cup: 1991–92
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
• UEFA Super Cup: 1992, 1997

• Olympic Gold Medal: 1992

• Bravo Award: 1992
• Olympics – Spain Best Player: 1992
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 2000

Manager

• Tercera División: 2007–08

• La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12
• Supercopa de España: 2009, 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011

• Bundesliga: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
• DFB-Pokal: 2013–14, 2015–16
• UEFA Super Cup: 2013
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2013

• Don Balon Award: 2009, 2010
• Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2008–09, 2009–10
• Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 2009, 2011, 2012
• World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year: 2009, 2011
• IFFHS World's Best Club Coach: 2009, 2011
• UEFA Team of the Year Best Coach: 2008–09, 2010–11
• La Liga Coach of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
• FIFA World Coach of the Year: 2011
• Globe Soccer Awards Coach Career Award: 2013
• Premier League Manager of the Month: February 2017

Decorations

• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2010
• Catalan of the year Award: 2009