Pep Guardiola surpasses Sir Alex, trailing only one person in Champions League history

Pep Guardiola has officially overtaken Sir Alex Ferguson to rise to second place in the list of managers with the most matches coached in Champions League history.

Manchester City's Champions League journey ended in a disappointing manner as they lost to Real Madrid with an aggregate score of 1-5 over two matches.

In the first leg at the Bernabeu, the English representative suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat, with Federico Valverde shining with an impressive hat-trick. One week later, the Manchester blues were again "stripped" with a 2-1 score, which included a brace from Vinicius.

Although Manchester City had to stop, this match still marked a memorable milestone in Pep Guardiola's career. This was the 191st time the Spanish strategist managed a team in the Champions League, thereby officially surpassing Sir Alex Ferguson to become the second-most matches coached manager in the tournament's history.

Previously, Guardiola had equaled Sir Alex's record of 190 matches in the first leg in Spain. This achievement demonstrates his stability and success throughout his coaching career in Europe, from Barcelona, Bayern Munich to Manchester City, as his teams have consistently reached deep stages of the Champions League for over a decade.

Although he has surpassed big names like Arsene Wenger (178 matches) or Jose Mourinho (154 matches), Guardiola still remains quite far from the record holder Carlo Ancelotti, the manager who has coached up to 218 matches in Europe's most prestigious club-level arena.

In terms of titles, Guardiola has won the Champions League three times (2009, 2011, and 2023). This achievement places him tied for second in the list of managers with the most victories, equal to Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane. However, Ancelotti remains the leader with five titles (2003, 2007, 2014, 2022, and 2024).

The elimination from the Champions League also extended Manchester City's disappointing results in March. Except for the victory over Newcastle in the FA Cup, the Manchester team disappointed by being successively held to draws by Nottingham Forest and West Ham in the Premier League. This series of results allowed Arsenal to break away in the title race, creating a nine-point gap over Manchester City, despite having played one more match.

In that context, Pep Guardiola and his team must quickly regain focus to salvage the season. Ahead of them is the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal this weekend, before facing Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals in April.