Pep Guardiola misses bottles another chance for UCL glory
Following Manchester City’s elimination from the Uefa Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid, the story about Pep Guardiola having an “African curse” has once again pop up.
City looked set for back-to-back Champions League final appearances on Wednesday night when they took the lead in the 73rd minute of the second-leg of their semi-final against Los Blancos through a Riyad Mahrez strike, which gave the English giants a 5-3 aggregate lead at the time.
However, things changed in the 90th minute when Real’s super sub Rodrygo netted a goal before adding another just a minute later to take the match to extra-time in a dramatic fashion.
The comeback was completed when Karim Benzema converted a 95th-minute penalty, which proved to be the winner as Madrid booked their place in the competition’s final against Liverpool on May 28 in Paris
Some have since attributed the Cityzen’s inability to qualify to a myth centred around their manager, who once again failed to lead his charges to the elusive Champions League title, a tournament he has not won in 11 years.
In 2018, Yaya Toure’s former agent Dimitri Seluk slammed the Spanish boss for benching the former Ivory Coast international during the player’s final year at the Manchester club, going as far as saying that the ex-FC Barcelona coach had angered all Africans with his actions, and suggesting that a Champions League curse has been placed on him as a result.
“He (Pep Guardiola) turned all Africa against himself, many African fans turned away from Manchester City,” Seluk said at the time, according to SPORTbible.
“And I’m sure that many African shamans in the future will not allow Pep Guardiola to win the Champions League. This will be for Guardiola an African curse. Life will show whether I am right or not. The fact that Guardiola ended Yaya’s career in Manchester City is not even a mistake, but a crime.”
City will now focus on defending their Premier League trophy against Liverpool who are just a point behind them.
Read also: Real Madrid makes a miraculous comeback to win 6:5 on aggregate against Manchester City
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