The Catalan coach may be hyper-successful on the domestic front but his legacy in continental competition does not measure up since arriving in Bavaria...


THREE SEMI-FINAL ELIMINATIONS IN THREE YEARS - PEP'S FAILED BAYERN WHERE IT MATTERS MOST
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The Catalan coach may be hyper-successful on the domestic front but his legacy in continental competition does not measure up since arriving in Bavaria.
Manchester City are bringing in Pep Guardiola to move the club forward but they've gone just as far in the Champions League this year with plain old Manuel Pellegrini in charge and might yet go further. What has been proven now three times in a row is that Guardiola's football is no longer winning football at the sharp end of continental competition.

That honour goes to Diego Simeone and his fearless Atletico Madrid. His is the team who beat treble-winning Barcelona and who have now accounted for Bayern. And how? By keeping it tight and hustling for a goal on the break. There's your philosophy.

Guardiola's teams have been defeated in the same way in each of his three consecutive semi-final failures at Bayern Munich. No away goal at Santiago Bernabeu. No away goal at Camp Nou. No away goal at Vicente Calderon. All the return legs featured away goals given away cheaply to the Spanish sides, striking like daggers through the heart at the Allianz Arena. Every year, over and over and over again. Knockout football is capricious, no mistaking that. However, three similar semi-final eliminations put together in a row look less like one-offs and more like a pattern. <<< read more >>> www.9jasportbet..com