Pep Guardiola's record vs Man Utd

For a manager as wonderful as Pep Guardiola and a team as metronomic as Manchester City, their recent record against bitter rivals Manchester United is somewhat disappointing.

Since moving to England in 2016, Guardiola has faced the Red Devils 19 times with his Cityzens. While a few comprehensive victories have been dished out, they have also been beaten seven times by a middling United side who haven't been close to City's level in years.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemed to have Guardiola's number, pulling out massive results against United's fierce rivals whenever he was under pressure in the managerial hot seat, though that wasn't enough to keep him in the Old Trafford dugout for the long term.

While it's more of a trickier prospect these days, Guardiola had enjoyed great success against United during his early years as a manager.

His first two games against the English giants came in separate Champions League finals in 2009 and 20211, both remembered for moments of genius from Lionel Messi in 2-0 and 3-1 victories.

When Pep moved to Bayern Munich, the Bavarian outfit were drawn against David Moyes' United in the 2013/14 UCL quarter-finals and were given scares over both legs.

Nemanja Vidic had put United ahead at Old Trafford only for Bastian Schweinsteiger to equalise while a Patrice Evra thunderbolt in Germany briefly had United in a position of real control. However, it would be Bayern who ran out comfortable 4-2 aggregate victors thanks to strikes from Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben.

When Pep made his eagerly anticipated move to England in the summer of 2016, it coincided with long-term rival Jose Mourinho's appointment across town at United, giving the football public a mouthwatering tussle between two of football's greatest-ever managers.

Their first clash ended with a 2-1 victory for Guardiola, but the former midfielder was finally beaten by a United side at the sixth attempt when Juan Mata netted a 54th-minute effort to win an EFL Cup tie 1-0.

Fast-forward to 2018 and we get to arguably the best game played between the two sides in modern times. City needed victory to secure the Premier League title and raced into a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes thanks to efforts from Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan.

However, two goals in two minutes from Paul Pogba and Chris Smalling's volley secured a 3-2 win for United, ensuring City had to wait to claim their title win.

Erik ten Hag's debut season as Manchester United manager was peppered with heavy defeats, including a bizarre 6-3 reverse at the Etihad. But the former Bayern Munich second-team coach during Guardiola's time in Bavaria, who was so meticulous in his preparation that he was nicknamed 'Mini Pep', earned a 2-1 win over actual Pep in January. It was a win that owed more to the generous interpretation of the offside rule than Ten Hag's planning.

Although, Guardiola did ensure that City won the first Manchester derby ever to grace the grand occasion of an FA Cup final in 2023, completing the second leg of a European treble to match United's accomplishment two decades earlier.

These days, it's City who reign supreme in the Premier League, and it's largely down to Guardiola's genius - and their bottomless pit of cash, of course. But his record for losing games to United is somewhat odd and unnecessary. There is no comparison between the two sides at the moment, and yet United have often found a way to strike when City seem most impenetrable.

He may have 13 wins from 23 total games against United with three different clubs, but those seven losses will undoubtedly bother Guardiola.

Pep Guardiola record vs Manchester United

May 27 2009 - UEFA Champions League - Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
May 28 2011 - UEFA Champions League - Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United
April 1 2014 UEFA Champions League - Manchester United 1-1 Bayern Munich
April 9 2014 UEFA Champions League - Bayern Munich 3-1 Manchester United
September 10 2016 - Premier League - Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City
October 26 2016 - EFL Cup - Manchester United 1-0 Manchester City
April 27 2017 - Premier League - Manchester City - 0-0 Manchester United
December 10 2017 - Premier League - Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City
April 7 2018 - Premier League - Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United
November 11 2018 - Premier League - Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United
April 24 2019 - Premier League - Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
December 7 2019 - Premier League - Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United
January 7 2020 - EFL Cup - Manchester United 1-3 Manchester City
January 29 2020 - EFL Cup - Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United
March 8 2020 - Premier League - Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
December 12 2020 - Premier League - Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City
January 6 2021 - EFL Cup - Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
March 7 2021 - Premier League - Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United
November 6 2021 - Premier League - Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
March 6 2022 - Premier League - Manchester City 4-1 Manchester United
October 2 2022 - Premier League - Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United
January 14 2023 - Premier League - Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City
June 3 2023 - FA Cup - Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United

Total record
Win: 13
Draw: 3
Lose: 7