A nightmare for Guardiola! Pep matches his worst Champions League knockout result
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
The 3-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu wasn’t just a painful blow for Pep Guardiola—it also entered the record books as one of his most notorious setbacks.
Details: The loss to Real Madrid ranks among Guardiola’s three heaviest defeats in the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie.
A timeline of Pep Guardiola’s toughest Champions League knockout first-leg defeats:
- 06.05.2015 – Barcelona 3:0 Bayern Munich, semi-final
- 04.04.2018 – Liverpool 3:0 Manchester City, quarter-final
- 11.03.2026 – Real Madrid 3:0 Manchester City, round of 16
Remarkably, every time Guardiola’s team has conceded three unanswered goals in the first leg, it has spelled the beginning of the end for his quest for the trophy. In 2015, Messi and company dismantled his Bayern; in 2018, Klopp’s Liverpool stunned the Citizens at Anfield; and now, Real Madrid have added a new chapter to this unwanted history.
Reminder: Real Madrid winger Kylian Mbappé celebrated wildly in the stands after Valverde’s hat-trick.
