Pep Guardiola's woes in European semifinals
Pep Guardiola is considered to be one of the most coveted coaches in the history of football. He had successful stints with Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the Spanish and German leagues respectively. Since joining Manchester City, he has transformed the club into one of the top attacking teams in the world.
The Manchester club has won the 2017-18 Premier League and is playing some beautiful football in the current season as well. However, his teams haven't had a fruitful run in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Here are some instances where his clubs have faced a humbling exit in the semifinals.
#1 Barcelona vs Chelsea (2-3), 2011-12
After winning the title in 2010-11 season, Barcelona were firm favorites to reach into the final when they drew Chelsea in the semi-final. In the home leg, Chelsea shocked the current champions with a 1-0 win, thanks to a goal by Didier Drogba.
In the second leg, Barca started the game brightly with a goal by Sergio Busquets in the 35th minute. For a rash tackle, John Terry was sent off in the 37th minute, putting Chelsea in deep trouble. Iniesta changed the scoreline to 2-0 in the first half but the second half changed the complexion of the game. Ramires and Fernando Torres netted the goals and knocked Barca out of the competition.
Strangely, Chelsea scored all their three goals in time added on, while Barcelona had a massive 72% possession in both legs.
#2 Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid (0-5), 2013-14
It was termed as an even clash, with both teams playing an attractive brand of football. After a 1-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Bayern Munich suffered an embarrassing loss at home with 4-0.
After crashing out of the tournament, a dejected Pep was quoted saying, "Of course we are disappointed and sad to have lost that game. We have lost, we lost clearly and by a large margin. What we did against Arsenal and Manchester [United] did not work today. Also, in the first leg in Madrid, we had more control than today and at least a couple of chances. Today, just a few. That's why we have lost the semifinal. You play with the ball and if you don't have it that doesn't work."