Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reaches a landmark on Sunday.
The Man City boss will oversee his 1,000th game as a manager when Liverpool make the trip to the Etihad Stadium on this weekend. If ever there were a match to mark the occasion, it’s a clash between two rivals. And Guardiola will hope it’s victory number 716 when Man City face the Reds.
To mark the occasion, we’ve picked out 10 iconic games from his managerial career to date. Spanning from his time at Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Man City, there have been some memorable matches.
Guardiola’s top 10:
- Barcelona 6-1 Atletico Madrid, October 2008
- Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona, May 2009
- Barcelona 2-0 Man Utd, May 2009
- Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, November 2010
- Barcelona 3-1 Man Utd, May 2011
- 6. Borussia Dortmund 0-3 Bayern Munich, November 2013
- 7. Southampton 0-1 Man City, May 2018
- 8. Man City 2-1 Liverpool, January 2019
- 9. Liverpool 1-4 Man City, February 2021
- 10. Man City 1-0 Inter Milan, June 2023
Barcelona 6-1 Atletico Madrid, October 2008
Guardiola’s first season as Barcelona boss very much exceeded expectations. He was promoted to senior boss in 2008 with the aim of restoring the Blaugrana to former glory. Frank Rijkaard had laid the foundations but a third-placed finish the previous season suggested change was netted.
And the Guardiola reign at Camp Nou didn’t start… great. Indeed, Barcelona lost their first game of the season at Numancia before they were held to a home 1-1 draw with Racing Santander. The third game – a 6-1 win at Sporting Gijon – saw everything click into place. However, it was a resounding 6-1 home triumph over Atletico Madrid that suggested bigger and better things were on the horizon.
Barcelona were three goals to the good after just eight minutes. They were 4-1 up in the 17th minute and ultimately claimed a huge win. It was the first true indicator that, maybe, Guardiola was the real deal. Barcelona would go on to win the league, Copa Del Rey and Champions League that season.
Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona, May 2009
Atletico weren’t the only Madrid side to be handed a Barcelona beatdown in the 2008-09 campaign. Guardiola took his side to the Bernabeu in early May for a decisive title showdown. Los Blancos were four points behind Barcelona with five games to play. A Real Madrid victory would set up a tense final few weeks of the campaign.
Guardiola’s side, though, absolutely obliterated Real Madrid. Gonzalo Higuain may have headed Juande Ramos’ side in front early on, but from there on out; it was one-way traffic. Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi each bagged a brace. Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique both got on the scoresheet. A 6-2 win marked the first time in El Clasico history that the away team scored six in this fixture.
Victory opened a seven-point lead at the top of the table and effectively sealed Barcelona’s first title since 2006.
“We wanted to kill it, to kill the league here,” Guardiola said after the match.
Barcelona didn’t just kill the league in May 2009. They attended the funeral and danced on its grave.
Barcelona 2-0 Man Utd, May 2009
The game that secured Barcelona’s historic Treble. Manchester United were defending European champions having beaten Chelsea on penalties in Moscow the previous year. The Premier League side were considered favourites ahead of the showpiece in Rome. Barcelona, after all, reached the final by the skin of their teeth following Andres Iniesta’s last-gasp equaliser at Stamford Bridge — alongside a lot of controversy.
This was a Man Utd side that also had Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo on the books. They’d just claimed the Premier League title, winning eight of their final nine games of the season. Yet as Man Utd pipped Liverpool to the title, they looked rank amateurs compared to Barcelona.
Ahead of the final, some questioned whether Barcelona were as good as results in Spain suggested. Ninety minutes later, and those doubts were well and truly quashed. Samuel Eto’o put Barcelona ahead in the 10th minute. Sir Alex Ferguson responded by bringing Tevez on at the break and Berbatov midway through the second half.
Messi, though, settled the tie with 20 minutes to play. We all remember the sight of the Argentine heading Xavi’s cross past Edwin van der Sar in Rome. The Dutchman stood, mouth agape, as the ball sailed into the far corner to wrap up a 2-0 win.
Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, November 2010
Real Madrid came so close to knocking Barcelona off their perch in 2009-10. Los Blancos finished three points behind the Blaugrana, who were led by the majestic Messi. Real Madrid responded by appointing Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese boss had just led Inter Milan to the treble. They knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League in the semi-finals.
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Florentino Perez felt Mourinho was the man to bring out the best in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema, who all joined the previous year. Mourinho was considered Guardiola’s Kryptonite. The antithesis to Barcelona’s tika-taka. Camp Nou, though, witnessed a mauling like no other.
For context, Real Madrid were unbeaten in 12, winning 10, ahead of their November trip to Barcelona. Guardiola’s side swatted them aside with ease. Goals from David Villa – twice – Xavi, Pedro and Jeffren saw Barcelona claim a significant 5-0 win over Mourinho’s Madrid. It was a game that really kicked off the rivalry between two of football’s most iconic managers.
Barcelona 3-1 Man Utd, May 2011
Having met in Rome in 2009, Barcelona and Man Utd locked horns once more, this time at Wembley. Sir Alex will have done his homework on the La Liga giants following their defeat in Italy. Indeed, Man Utd set up to frustrate Barcelona and managed to go in at the break level despite spending the opening 45 largely chasing shadows.
Barcelona, though, kicked it up a notch in the second half. Goals from Lionel Messi and David Villa saw the Spanish giants secure a 3-1 win in London. Messi in particular was absolutely sensational in the final, carving through Man Utd like a hot knife through butter.
“They are the best team we have ever played,” Ferguson said after the final.
High praise indeed. Barcelona were absolutely outstanding in the 2011 Champions League final. It was a match that, to some, was their best under Guardiola, who’d go on to leave Barcelona in 2012.
6. Borussia Dortmund 0-3 Bayern Munich, November 2013
After a year out of the game, Guardiola returned to club management with Bayern Munich in 2013. Bayern won the league in his debut campaign at the club but there was a potential hiccup on the way to domestic glory. Guardiola faced his first Bundesliga Klassiker in November 2013, where he’d take on Jurgen Klopp for the first time in league action.
Borussia Dortmund may have finished second in 2012-13 but were expected to run Bayern close in Guardiola’s first season in Germany. The gulf in class, though, couldn’t have been more startling. This wasn’t a game where Bayern obliterated Dortmund, even as second half goals from Mario Gotze, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller earned a 3-0 win.
Rather this marked an evolution of Guardiola and his managerial qualities. It was a game he consistently tinkered with his tactics to one-up Klopp. In the Spaniard’s first real test as Bayern boss, he passed with flying colours. Bayern nullified Dortmund as Guardiola micro-managed his way to three points.
7. Southampton 0-1 Man City, May 2018
Guardiola left his role as Bayern boss in 2016 and immediately succeeded Manuel Pellegrini as Man City manager. In 2018, he won his first Premier League title, and made history along the way. Man City eased to top spot, finishing a whopping 19 points ahead of rivals Man Utd.
As they steamrolled their way to domestic success, they went into the final game of the season on 97 points. A win at Southampton would have seen Man City write their name into the history books as the first team to claim 100 points in a single Premier League season.
Man City enjoyed a lion share of possession, but had little to show for their dominance. And as the minutes ticked towards the 90, it felt as though Man City would miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In second half injury time, Kevin De Bruyne lofted the ball over the Saints for Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian calmly lofted the ball over Alex McCarthy to secure victory. Cue celebrations in the away end as Man City’s 106th league goal of the season saw them reach 100 points.
8. Man City 2-1 Liverpool, January 2019
What a way to kick off the New Year. Man City welcomed Liverpool to the Etihad in January 2019. Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp were at the peak of their respective powers and locked in a Premier League title race for the ages. With no margin for error, Man City and Liverpool played out a breathless clash in Manchester.
Liverpool were pulling away from Man City in their bid to land the title. Anything other than a Man City win would effectively hand the Reds the advantage. Guardiola, though, got his tactics spot on. Sergio Aguero put the defending champions ahead shortly before the break. Roberto Firmino drew Liverpool level midway through the second, only for Leroy Sane to confirm the 2-1 win in the 72nd minute.
It was the only league game Liverpool would lose that season. Further dropped points against Leicester City, West Ham United, Man Utd and Everton, however, would prove costly. Man City, meanwhile, won 17 of 18 games in the second half of the season. The juggernaut kicked into gear for 2019 and didn’t slow, ultimately pipping Liverpool to first by a single point.
9. Liverpool 1-4 Man City, February 2021
After Liverpool’s title triumph in 2020, Man City were hellbent on reclaiming their domestic crown. They faced a tricky test in February 2021 as they made the trip to Anfield on a nine-game winning run. Even so, Liverpool had been a thorn in Man City’s side for almost 20 years.
Man City hadn’t won at Anfield since 2003 ahead of their short trip to Liverpool. They ended that record in fine fashion. They were helped by a pair of Alisson errors as Ilkay Gundogan – twice – Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden struck in a 4-1 win. It took Liverpool a short while to get over the shock loss, as they lost four of the subsequent five games.
The Citizens pulled no punches under Guardiola, reclaiming their title a full 12 points ahead of Man Utd, and 17 above Liverpool. That triumph kicked off Man City’s domestic dominance as they’d go on to land a historic four successive Premier League titles.
10. Man City 1-0 Inter Milan, June 2023
Man City were expected to win the 2021 Champions League. However, they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto, a result few expected to come to pass. Bizarrely, Guardiola left Fernandinho and Rodri on the bench in the narrow loss. Two years later, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
In the height of his 3-2-4-1 setup, Rodri started alongside John Stones at the base of the midfield against Inter Milan in Istanbul in 2023. And it was the Spaniard who proved decisive, slotting in the winner midway through the second half. A 1-0 win over Inter marked Man City’s first ever Champions League and first European trophy since 1970.
The result cemented Man City’s reputation as one of the all-time great teams as they completed the treble. The victory marked the pinnacle of Guardiola’s time as Man City boss as he delivered continental success. “I think it was written in the stars this season that it belonged to us and we did it,” Guardiola said afterwards. After the tactical mishap in 2021, he certainly made amends two years’ later.