Got, got need PEP MUST DELIVER BIG PRIZE
PEP GUARDIOLA argues that his legacy at Manchester City is already “exceptional”. He has a point, too, considering the Spaniard has won oodles of trophies since arriving at the club in 2016.
And this total could rise should Guardiola lead his team to a historic Treble in the coming weeks.
But when Guardiola did land in the blue half of Manchester his remit wasn’t to maintain a domestic dominance started before him by Roberto Mancini and then Manuel Pelligrini.
No. On top of the ‘to do’ list handed to him by chairman Khaldoon AlMubarak, written in big capital letters, was the request for him to make City the kings of Europe. And despite having the backing of lavish funds from a nation state, it’s something Guardiola still hasn’t managed to do.
The Champions League remains the biggest prize in club football. Winning it defines the legacies of those who do – and determines how history remembers them. Brian Clough’s legend is built on him winning two European Cups with Nottingham Forest.
The same goes for Bob Paisley, who landed three as Liverpool manager.
Zinedine Zidane won three on the spin, Jose Mourinho led underdogs Porto and Inter Milan to the same prize, while Carlo Ancelotti has won it four times to cement his status as one of the greatest bosses of all time. And would we view Sr Alex Ferguson in the same light had he not won the Champions League twice at Manchester United, which might not have happened had fate decreed something different for the Scot?
Different generations, of course, but the same meaning still applies to all of the above when it comes to the ultimate managerial achievement.
And this same criteria applies to the great Guardiola and his time at the
Etihad, irrespective of all his domestic success.
There is zero chance of him being considered a failure of course.
English football should feel privileged to have had Guardiola working his magic in it for so long, because whatever happens in the future, he will be regarded as one of the all-time greats.
But there is no escaping the fact that should Guardiola leave the English champions without having conquered Europe, his legacy will be accompanied by a huge question mark.
And the club will feel incomplete. The supporters, despite their loathing of what the competition stands for, will feel incomplete and feeling the most incomplete of all will be Guardiola himself.
The Champions League is the barometer of greatness. And it’s still hard to fathom how he hasn’t managed to get his hands on the trophy Clough nicknamed ‘Old Big Ears’ since 2011, when Barcelona took Manchester United to the cleaners in the final at Wembley.
For someone so revered in the game, it feels like Guardiola’s true genius remains unfulfilled.
But thanks to City’s astonishing demolition of Real Madrid, Guardiola will get the chance to finally scratch that seven-year itch he’s had since walking through the doors of the Etihad.
And he will never have a more golden one than this, too, with Inter Milan the surprise finalists standing between Guardiola’s men and their place in footballing folklore. It’s one Guardiola has to take, because if he doesn’t win it this time round, he may never.