Guardiola: I Would Have Been Sacked at Madrid or Barcelona

Pep Guardiola acknowledges his fortune in still managing Manchester City — a club that shows more patience compared to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The 2024-25 season has been City’s most challenging period under Guardiola’s leadership — the Premier League defending champions had to settle for third place, 13 points behind Liverpool. The Citizens also faced early exits from the Champions League and Carabao Cup, plus defeat in the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.

“With the year we’ve had, if this were Spain, I wouldn’t be coaching in October, November or December. If this were Barça or Madrid, they would have sacked me,” Guardiola told DAZN.

The former Barcelona coach cited Carlo Ancelotti’s case as an example. The Italian manager had to leave Madrid for the Brazil national team despite recently winning the treble.

City has backed Guardiola by securing several new players:

• Rayan Aït-Nouri
• Rayan Cherki
• Tijjani Reijnders

Both Madrid and City will compete in the Club World Cup starting this weekend.