Pep Guardiola really can’t escape the curse of failing to win the Champions League without Lionel Messi. This time the Big Ears trophy flew into Chelsea’s hands.
For the umpteenth time, Guardiola failed to win the Champions League with a team other than Barcelona which was strengthened by Messi.
This time, Guardiola failed to lead Manchester City to European champions after being defeated by Chelsea 0-1 in the final match which was held at the Do Dragao Stadium, Porto, Sunday (30/5).
Despite dominating the game with Guardiola’s trademark, City were less effective than Chelsea. Kai Havertz’s goal took advantage of Mason Mount’s breakthrough bait to make the difference in this match.
Before the match, Man City were far from seeded to win the match. The depth of the squad and the slick performance in the semifinals by eliminating Paris Saint Germain are good assets to close the sweet journey with the championship title.
While Chelsea is still underestimated. The Blues were even considered to be lucky to qualify for the final even though they had previously succeeded in eliminating Spanish giants Real Madrid.
In fact, Man City’s ambition to win the treble this season has run aground in the hands of Chelsea. Guardiola was languidly bowed after the successive failures he got after leaving Barcelona.
Guardiola was nicknamed The Genius thanks to his success in bringing Barcelona three La Liga titles and two Champions League titles in the 2009 and 2011 editions.
However, the nickname has faded along with failure after failure achieved since splitting from Barcelona and Messi.
Because, Pep Guardiola has never again achieved peak achievements in the European elite scene after leaving Barcelona. He was never even able to take Bayern Munich to the Champions League final, let alone the champion.
In Munich, Guardiola has indeed managed to collect many domestic titles from the Bundesliga to the DFB-Pokal. But, that is a common achievement that Munich can achieve with the previous coaches.
On 1 February 2016, Guardiola tried his luck at British soil. A wealthy club, Man City, was the choice. The myth of ‘Fraudiola’ also surfaced, namely a coach who can only win with good players.
Yes, with an abundant squad, Guardiola is of course able to bring Man City to success in domestic competition. Three Premier League titles and four Premier League Cup trophies are proof of this.
However, Guardiola is still unable to present the Champions League title after five years of coveting it with Man City.
The last time Guardiola tasted Europe’s elite competition title was in 2011 with Barcelona and Messi. Nothing wrong with then, the Catalan coach was accused of not being a special figure without Messi.
The reason is, he was never able to bring his team to win the Champions League after leaving Barcelona. Even though when handled by Guardiola, Munchen and City were established teams reinforced by the world’s top players.
The oblique view of how much Guardiola relies on Messi became more evident after Man City failed to win the Champions League 2020-2021. Rumors of Guardiola’s return to Barcelona also strengthened.
AS reported, Barcelona president Joan Laporta will contact Guardiola the day after the Champions League final. The presence of Guardiola is believed to be a reason for Messi to stay at the Camp Nou.
However, Barcelona’s desire can be dashed or even lose two crucial figures in their team if Messi agrees to move to Man City.
Rumors of Guradiola Messi’s reunion have indeed been widely heard since the end of last season. La Pulga is even said to have spoken with Guardiola before sending a letter of request to move to Barcelona.
However, Messi’s scenario for a reunion with Guardiola failed to materialize after Barcelona insisted not to let him go. Blaugrana management even threatened to drag Messi to court.
Currently the opportunity for Messi to move to Man City is wide open because his contract will finish at the end of June. Guardiola’s contract at City also has one more year left and can be extended if his dream player comes to the Etihad.
Maybe Guardiola can stop the curse of failing to win the Champions League if Messi is part of the team he coaches.
Messi is not young anymore. However, his score of 47 goals in all competitions with Barcelona this season is proof he is not completely finished.
