Pep Guardiola has won 20 titles since last Champions League as he aims to end hoodoo

By his lofty standards, Pep Guardiola has endured Champions League cataclysm across the 11 years since he collected his last crown. In 2011, a 3-1 win against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium named Barcelona European champions for a fourth time. Since then, Guardiola has been starved of similar success.

But heartbreak against Chelsea in 2021 was nothing new for Guardiola, whose prolific domestic trophy hunting over the last decade hasn’t translated.

In 2011/12, what would prove to be Guardiola’s final season at Barcelona, it was Chelsea celebrating at the Nou Camp after Fernando Torres’ iconic late strike secured a 3-2 aggregate triumph.

The failure ended his memorable tenure as Blaugrana boss after picking up the Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup earlier in the season.

Guardiola took a year out to reside in New York City, but he didn’t stay away from the game for long. His thirst for silverware was too intense, and Bundesliga overlords Bayern Munich didn’t have to ask him twice.

Three successive league titles followed during his time at the Allianz Arena. Two DFB-Pokals, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.

But he couldn’t bring European glory to Bavaria. Three years. Three semi-final defeats. Tough.

In 2014, former rivals Real Madrid came back to haunt Guardiola by romping to a 5-0 victory across two legs.

A year later, Guardiola was visited by another ghost of his past. Barcelona, to be precise. They progressed Bayern with a 5-3 win.

2016 came next. And it was more Spain without the S for Pep. This time it was Atletico Madrid’s turn in the final four, and they snuck past his German giants on away goals after a 2-2 draw.

Guardiola reacted. Not by taking measures to ensure Bayern wouldn’t make it an unwelcome fourpeat, but by taking charge at Man City in 2016.

A transitional and trophyless maiden campaign involved City being on the wrong end of a last-16 classic against AS Monaco’s pre-raid star-studded side, losing on away goals after a 6-6 stalemate.

He picked up 11 trophies in five seasons in response, including four Premier League titles and four consecutive League Cup crowns.

But his true prize has been clear, as much as he’ll play it down. That European Cup – a first in City’s history – has evaded him.

Premier League rivals Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur got the better of the Citizens in the quarter-finals in 2018 and 2019.

2020 – in different, one-legged circumstances amid the Covid pandemic – caused similar frustration. City suffered a shock 3-1 loss to Lyon – also in the last eight.