Is the Yaya curse haunting Pep?

MADRID. — Fans have highlighted the 'Yaya Toure Curse' put on Pep Guardiola back in 2018 after his team failed to win the Champions League yet again.

The Premier League champions had a 4-3 lead over Real Madrid from the first leg, but were dumped out in the second leg of the semi-finals at the Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.

Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring on the night, but they ended up losing 6-5 on aggregate after Rodrygo came to turn the fixture on its head by notching twice, before Karim Benzema slotted home from the penalty spot in extra-time.

After the defeat, the famous comments have resurfaced from the agent of former City star Yaya Toure.

Following a fractious exit from the club in 2018, Toure’s agent Dmitri Seluk came out with some bizarre comments about shamans and curses, and how these could stop Pep Guardiola from winning his coveted cup.

The midfielder was a key player in two Premier League titles during a glittering start to his spell in England, but later saw his game-time reduce considerably under the Catalan boss, causing friction - even benching him in his final season where he won a third title.

Both Toure and Seluk previously accused the City manager of having an agenda against African players - with the agent going a step further and suggesting that Guardiola was cursed to never win the Champions League again after his actions.

Seluk said: “The way he acted towards Yaya, a club legend, coming up with various pretexts not to let him play.

“He has set all of Africa against him, many African fans have turned away from Manchester City.

“And I am sure that many African shamans will not let Guardiola win the Champions League in future. It will be like an African curse on Guardiola. Time will tell if I am right or not.”

Fans have taken to social media to suggest that perhaps the African curse is real and is the reason City continue to choke in Europe.

One fan said: “Yaya Toure’s curse on Pep Guardiola might actually be real.”

Another also said: “The African curse was real I guess.”

A third fan made the bold statement that the curse is why City will never win the Champions League, by tweeting: “The Yaya Toure curse is the reason why Pep Guardiola won’t win UCL again simple.”

One fan created a meme of Guardiola in disbelief after Madrid's comeback, saying: “Pep Guardiola realising the Yaya Toure curse still haunts him and will stay forever.”