Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is used to winning after so many accolades in his career as a manager and a player, and in recent years, he has made a habit of showing excellence in the biggest stages.
Guardiola revels in Bayern Munich win to reach UCL milestone
Despite not winning the UEFA Champions League since 2011, Guardiola has remained one of the best managers in the competition and currently leads the way in terms of semifinal appearances for a manager in the European Cup/Champions League with his ninth appearance in the last four of the 2021/22 edition.
After Manchester City’s 3-0 thrashing of Bayern Munich at the Etihad stadium in the first leg of their UCL quarterfinal, Guardiola could be on course for his 10th semifinal appearance in the competition, a third in a row since 2021.
Guardiola’s UCL knockout record compares favourably to the greats
Should he reach a 10th European semifinal, he will not only extend his lead as the manager with the most semifinal appearances in UCL history, but he will also become one of four managers to reach a decade of European semifinal appearances, along with greats like Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson, Jupp Heynckes, who famously won the treble with Bayern Munich in 2013, and Jose Mourinho, who also won the treble with Inter in 2010.
Incidentally, all four managerial greats are treble winners after Sir Alex Ferguson won the treble including the league, domestic cup and Champions League with Manchester United in 1999 and Guardiola defeated him 10 years later to lift a treble of his own with Barcelona in 2009.
One more way that Guardiola has bested “Fergie” and indeed all other managers on the list is by having the highest win percentage of any manager in the UCL knockout stages to have overseen more than 30 matches.
His 54.8% win ratio from 40 wins in 72 games as a Champions League manager in the knockout stages from the round of 16 to the final is better than any other manager on record, and he will be hoping that his good record in the competition can translate to an overdue trophy-lift this season.
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