4 teams that have completed a league double over a side managed by Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola possesses one of the sharpest minds in football. His style of play may not be easy to understand or accessible to everyone, but it has always been enthralling.
Guardiola, who started his coaching career at Barcelona, has won trophies everywhere he has managed. He won three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, and two Copas del Rey with the Blaugrana. He then moved to Bayern Munich in 2013 and helped the Bavarians to three consecutive league titles and two German Cups. Now at Manchester City, Guardiola has ruled the Premier League with an iron fist, winning three league titles in the last five seasons. This season, too, his City are sitting atop the league table and are the outright favorites to defend their title.
Beating a team managed by the great Pep Guardiola is arguably the toughest job in club football, especially in league fixtures. Doing a league double over such a brilliant tactician is next to impossible. No team in Spain and Germany managed to beat a Pep Guardiola-managed side home and away in a single season. Yet, in the Premier League, there have already been four who have achieved the astonishing feat.
Here are four football clubs that have completed a league double over a Pep Guardiola-managed team:
#4 Chelsea (2016-17)
In the 2016-17 season, Chelsea were comfortably superior to any other Premier League team out there, including Pep Guardiola’s City. Their first meeting was at the Etihad Stadium, where the Blues came from behind to bag a solid 1-3 win.
After Gary Cahill’s own goal put the hosts ahead, Diego Costa restored parity with a neat strike in the 60th minute. Willian and Eden Hazard then joined the party and completed the turnaround. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho saw red in injury time after being involved in late tussles with Chelsea players.
CHELSEA REWIND: On this day in 2016 Chelsea won 3-1 at Manchester City. Diego Costa, Eden Hazard & Willian with the goals on route to Chelsea winning the title! 🏆 https://t.co/zDnGQcGb9l
In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, Hazard opened the scoring for the west London outfit. Aguero restored parity for the visitors in the 26th minute, but City’s joy was short-lived as Hazard added another in the 35th minute.
The Belgian’s strike sealed a 2-1 win for the Blues and practically knocked City out of the title race.
#3 Wolverhampton Wanderers (2019-20)
Unlike the other three clubs on this list, Wolverhampton Wanderers were not a team full of superstars when they beat Guardiola’s City. They simply stuck to their guns, played the brand of football they were known for, and got rewarded for it.
On matchday eight of the 2019-20 season, Wolves traveled to the home of the defending champions to get a respectable result. They held firm until the dying embers of the match and bagged a clean 0-2 win courtesy of an Adama Traore double.
The win at the Etihad marked their first away win over Manchester City since 1979.
List of teams to beat Pep Guardiola’s @ManCity at The Etihad whilst keeping a clean sheet:
@Wolves (0-2) 
⬇️ List of teams to beat Pep Guardiola’s @ManCity at The Etihad whilst keeping a clean sheet:
✅ @Wolves (0-2)
🤷♂️ ...end of list. https://t.co/9DpxgwBM0e
In the return fixture, City keeper Ederson saw a red card early in the match, but a Raheem Sterling double put the visitors 0-2 up.
Unfortunately for the champions, Wolves still had life left in them and fashioned a comeback, courtesy of goals from Traore, Raul Jimenez, and Matthew Doherty.