Pep Guardiola names the one team he doesn’t want Man City to face in the Champions League

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side are one of the favourites to dethrone Real Madrid and win the Champions League in the 2024/2025 season.

Guardiola’s City side finally ended their long-awaited dream of winning Europe’s elite competition in June last year; a feat they would be hoping to repeat at Wembley Stadium in 2024.

Jamie Carragher doubts Manchester City’s Champions League credentials due to the fact that Rodri has been ruled out with an ACL injury for the rest of the season.

Manchester City could have an even bigger incentive to go for glory this campaign and showcase that they can reign over European football in the absence of arguably their best and most important player.

Pep Guardiola’s contract at Manchester City expires in 2025 and if he has privately decided that the ongoing term is his final one in England, there would not be a better way for him to bow out than by winning the competition.

However, Guardiola will have his sights set on winning the Champions League regardless of his future at the club.

Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

Guardiola explains why he dreads Man City vs Barcelona Champions League clash

After Carlo Ancelotti won his fifth Champions League title with Real Madrid after their 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund earlier this year, he further extended his lead as the competition’s most successful-ever manager.

Currently, Pep Guardiola has won the competition thrice — in 2009 and 2011 at Barcelona and in 2023 at Manchester City.

Speaking on Italian television show Che Tempo Che Fa, Guardiola named Barcelona as the one team he would like to avoid in the Champions League due to his emotional attachment to his boyhood club.

“Good question. Probably Barcelona, because the affection I have for them really destroys me.”

In an interview with Sky Sports, Pep Guardiola even admitted that he feels “weaker” when going toe-to-toe with managers he considers friends like Mikel Arteta, Julen Lopetegui, Roberto De Zerbi and Enzo Maresca.

It seems like the Catalan tactician is prone of feeling emotional when he has to manage such games.

Martin Keown named Pep Guardiola as the greatest-ever manager in the history of the game and his wealth of experience has meant he has dealt with every kind of emotion during his managerial career.

Man City record vs Barcelona in the Champions League

If Barcelona and Manchester City are drawn to battle against each other this season, that will be their first meeting in the competition since the 2016/2017 season.

However, City’s record against the Blaugrana makes for grim reading. Here is the head-to-head record between both clubs in Europe.

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Manchester City vs Barcelona Champions League head-to-head

It was revealed in August that Pep Guardiola feared Manchester City would sack him before his side pulled off a miracle 3-1 triumph against the Spanish giants in the Champions League back in 2016.

At the time, Barcelona were arguably one of the two best teams in the world alongside Real Madrid.

Currently, Manchester City are the far superior team on paper and recent history — which could give Pep Guardiola’s men the advantage over the league leaders in Spain.

If both teams lock horns with each other in the Champions League, the tie will promise to be one for the ages