The Most Significant Moments of Pep Guardiola's Time as a Manager

Josep Guardiola Sala, eh? What a man.

Whatever you think of him, you can't deny he is one of the best to ever do it.

He might have had hundreds of millions to blow on players at every club he's ever managed but he has earned that right through his relentless management and unforgiving style of football that delights the purists and blows opposition teams away.

He took charge of his 700th game at the weekend, so it's time for a celebration.

Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona (02/05/09)

After a successful spell in charge of Barcelona B in which they gained promotion to the second tier, Guardiola was appointed to take over first team duties ahead of the 2007/08 season, replacing Frank Rijkaard. And it immediately became apparent he was the right choice.

After a dramatic squad clear-out that saw Ronaldinho among those axed, they stormed to the title in his first campaign and then retained it in 2008/09.

They did so with the help of a historic win at the Bernabeu, in which Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi ran with a brace each. Gonzalo Higuain scored first but it was all down hill from there.

Barcelona Treble 2008/09

That 6-2 victory was part of the defining Guardiola season. When they won the treble for the first and only time in the history of Spanish football, as Pep's tiki-taka took over.

A victory over Manchester United followed a Copa del Rey and La Liga, in a calendar year that would see them go on to win six major trophies - the only time that has ever happened in the history of professional football.

Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United (11/05/11)

Possibly the most impressive single victory in all of Guardiola's tenure came in one of the highest quality Champions League finals ever. Guardiola vs Ferguson II saw the Spaniard outfox and outthink the Scot at every turn, as the front three of Messi, Pedro and David Villa put United to the sword.

This is seen by many as the peak of Pep's Barça as Xavi and Andres Iniesta passed United off the park on their way to another major honour.

First Bundesliga Title

After a short break from football upon leaving Barcelona, Guardiola took the reins at Bayern Munich ahead of the 2013/14 season and was undeniably successful...even if he was a bit of a square peg in a round hole.

His first season saw Bayern win the Bundesliga with seven games to spare, the earliest it has ever been wrapped up in German football history.

He was dividing opinion all over the country, however, his possession-based system at odds with the fabric of German football and leading to one or two eyebrow-raising results.

Departure of Mario Mandzukic

One of the first signs that Guardiola's magic might have been wearing off came the following summer, when Mario Mandzukic walked out of the club, slamming Guardiola's management and saying his style simply 'did not fit him.'

Quite bizarre, off the back of a season in which he'd scored 26 goals and registered 10 assists that season.

His replacement was some diddy called 'Robert Lewandowski'.

Monaco 3-1 Man City (6-6 agg) (15/03/17)

The way things have gone over the past two seasons, it's easy to forget that things did not start out all that well for him in England.

There were smug shouts that one of the best managers of all-time 'couldn't do it in the Premier League' after a debut campaign that saw City finish third on 78 points.

Those shouts were vindicated somewhat when, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and in Guardiola's 100th match as a manager in UEFA competitions, they threw away a 5-3 lead away at Monaco to go crashing out of the competition.

To be fair, this was a pretty excellent Monaco team, featuring Fabinho, Thomas Lemar, Kylian Mbappe and future Cityzen Bernardo Silva...but it still wasn't a great look.

Centurions

Yeah, those doubts? Straight out the window the following season.

Gabriel Jesus' delicate dink against Southampton on the final day of the campaign put City on 100 points - the first and only time that has ever happened in the history of English football.

Turned out Guardiola's City were quite good after all.

Man City 2-1 Liverpool (03/01/19)

They managed to retain the title in 2018/19, though were made to work for every inch of it by Liverpool, who were led by the man emerging as his primary managerial rival - Jurgen Klopp.

The Reds had sent them packing from the Champions League the season before and inflicted their only domestic defeat of the season, so had hinted at challenging the throne, but few would ever have expected them to take 98 points.

City just so happened to take 99, as it turned out that their 2-1 victory over the Reds at the Etihad was the difference. There had been questions over whether City could beat Liverpool any more - they took 4 points from them in a relentless 2018/19 season.

New Man City Deal

Despite a shaky start to this season, City weren't messing about, and threw all their eggs in the Guardiola basket once more. As a reward for two league titles and eight major trophies, the Spaniard extended his stay until 2023 - putting paid to all the rampant speculation over his future.

Game 700 came and went with a routine 2-0 win over Burnley, though with six points between themselves and early leaders Spurs, they have plenty of work left to do.