Manchester City and Pep Guardiola's worrying record against Barcelona

14:59
Manchester City have never beaten Barcelona
Manchester City have never beaten Barcelona

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will go up against his former side Barcelona in the Champions League group stages looking to buck a worrying trend. 

City have lost all four of their previous Champions League matches against Barcelona, and Guardiola himself tasted defeat over two legs in the semi-final with Bayern Munich in 2015.

With Borussia Monchengladbach also in Group C, and a Battle of Britain north of the border against Celtic to boot, Guardiola simply cannot write off the two meetings with the Catalan giants.

Guardiola has reached the semi-finals in each of his seven seasons as manager in the Champions League, but has been knocked out at this stage in the last four campaigns.

Here's how City, and Guardiola, have fared against Barcelona in recent years…

Man City 0-2 Barcelona - Round of 16 first leg, February 2014

City's first-ever knockout-stage draw in the Champions League was not kind, but Manuel Pellegrini's side were holding Tata Martino's Barcelona until half-time at the Etihad.

Manchester City
Manchester City's Martin Demichelis was sent off for this cynical foul on Lionel Messi

It only took nine minutes of the second period to fall behind, Martin Demichelis cynically bringing down Lionel Messi, who dusted himself down to slot the penalty away, before a last-gasp Dani Alves goal made it 2-0, and seemingly game, set and match.

Barcelona 2-1 Man City - Round of 16 second leg, March 2014

In the return leg, City again held Barca for 67 minutes, and with plenty of chances falling the visitors' way, a City goal could have easily made for a nervy finish.

City reached the knockout stages for the first time in 2014, but were quickly out at the hands of the Catalans
City reached the knockout stages for the first time in 2014, but were quickly out at the hands of the Catalans

Instead, Messi made it 3-0 on aggregate to dash City's hopes once more, and while Vincent Kompany pulled one back late on, Alves was on hand in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win on the night, 4-1 on aggregate.

Man City 1-2 Barcelona - Round of 16 first leg, February 2015

Same teams, same place, same round. City were again on the receiving end of the knockout stage draw, and despite holding Barcelona for long periods in their first two fixtures, this time they were quickly behind.

Two goals before the half-hour mark from Luis Suarez put Barca 2-0 up at the Etihad, and though Sergio Aguero halved the deficit in the second half, City saw Gael Clichy sent off with 15 minutes remaining, their third red in three games against the Catalans.

Luis Suarez celebrates scoring against Manchester City at the Etihad
Luis Suarez celebrates scoring against Manchester City at the Etihad

Barcelona 1-0 Man City - Round of 16 second leg, March 2015

Back to Spain, where Joe Hart's fine goalkeeping performance was one of few positives to take out of another Nou Camp defeat.

Ivan Rakitic's first-half goal made the game safe, but without the England goalkeeper, it could have been a lot worse, and Barca went on to win the Champions League in Berlin as part of an historic treble.

City suffer another defeat at the Nou Camp in 2015
City suffer another defeat at the Nou Camp in 2015

Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich - Semi-final first leg, May 2015

Barcelona had never beaten Bayern without Guardiola at the helm, and Luis Enrique's side went into the game as only slight favourites after the Germans wrapped up the Bundesliga title nice and early. However, it was no happy return for Pep.

Bayern's starting XI suggested 4-3-3, but as the opening stages progressed, it was obvious Guardiola had his players man-marking Barca all over the pitch.

They took just 20 minutes to revert to their usual style, and it was 0-0 until the 77th minute when Messi finally broke through.

Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola's Bayern fell well short against Barca in 2015

His second three minutes later was an abiding memory of Barca's season, leaving Jerome Boateng on the floor with one deft touch to his right before lofting the ball beautifully over Manuel Neuer.

At 2-0, Bayern were hanging on, but Neymar's last-gasp finish sent Bayern back to Bavaria with a mammoth task of overturning a three-goal deficit.

Bayern Munich 3-2 Bayern Munich - Semi-final second leg, May 2015

Back to Allianz, and Bayern had pulled one back early on through Mehdi Benatia, but Neymar once again put the Germans back in their place with two quick-fire goals before half-time.

Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller won the game for Bayern, but the tie was over long before, and Guardiola was left to settle for domestic success.

Source : skysports[dot]com

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