MAN CITY EVER THE BRIDESMAID

IT SEEMS as if the Uefa Champions League title is just not destined for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.

Mind you, Guardiola has lifted the trophy as a player and manager at Barcelona before – as a defensive midfielder in 1991, when the tournament was still the European Cup – and then as the Barca boss in 2009 and 2011.

The Spaniard was the youngest ever coach, at the age of 38, to be the manager of a Champions League-winning side – with Barcelona winning the treble that season (Champions League, Spanish Cup and La Liga).

But it’s just not happening for him and City in the premier club competition in the world.

Wednesday night’s heartbreaking defeat to Real Madrid in the semi-finals at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was yet another low point in Guardiola’s tenure at City.

The English outfit were virtually minutes away from advancing to their second consecutive final following Riyad Mahrez’s 73rd-minute goal, but then Rodrygo found the back of the net in the 90th and 91st minutes to send the match into extra time, with the scores locked at 5-5 on aggregate.

French striker Karim Benzema then converted a penalty in the fifth minute of the first half of extra time, and the Spanish club held on for a sensational victory that will see them take on Liverpool in the final on May 28 in Paris.

That was hard to take for City, whose Arab owners have invested hundreds of millions of pounds into recruiting the best players in the world, such as Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Ederson, but still have no Champions League crown to show for it.

Since Guardiola took charge in 2016, City have finished in the semi-finals (2016-17), round of 16 (2017-18), quarter-finals (2018-19), quarter-finals (2019-20), final (2020-21) and now the semi-finals (2021-22).

In that same period, they won the English Premier League on three occasions – 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2020-21 – while playing exhilarating football.

They still lead Liverpool by a point on the current log, with four matches to go. But even if they win that title again, is it good enough for a manager of Guardiola’s calibre and the financial investment from the owners?

Probably not …