The 11 managers Pep Guardiola has faced and never beaten: Koeman, Hiddink…
Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest managers in football history, but there are a total of 11 managers that he’s faced during his career and has never beaten.
For context, Sean Dyche is the manager that Guardiola boasts the best record against with an impressive 16 wins against the Everton boss in 17 matches.
We’ve taken a closer look at Guardiola and have assessed the 11 managers that he’s never been able to beat.
Ronald Koeman
A former teammate of Guardiola during their days together at Barcelona, Koeman seems to be the kryptonite that can stump Guardiola’s side.
During his early days managing in the Premier League, Everton always seemed to be a bogey side for Guardiola. He faced Koeman while he was the Everton boss on three separate occasions and failed to win any of the matches.
Roberto Di Matteo
The role Di Matteo played in winning the Champions League for Chelsea in 2011-12 doesn’t get spoken about enough.
He got the better of Guardiola over two legs in the UCL semi-final back in 2012, beating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate. Fernando Torres scored the decisive goal at the Nou Camp and the rest is history.
Interestingly, Di Matteo also faced Guardiola while he was the Schalke boss in 2015, but that game ended as a 1-1 draw, maintaining his impressive record against Pep.
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Guus Hiddink
The two games Guardiola managed against Hiddink each ended as a draw. Technically, Guardiola’s side did win on penalties in the 2008-09 Champions League semi-final, but that game still counts as a draw on his record.
Jose Francisco Molina
Villarreal were one of only three sides who managed to keep a clean sheet against Barcelona in 2011-12. Jose Francisco Molina was the man in charge that day as the game at the Estadi de la Ceramica ended goalless.
These two managers only ever faced each other on one occasion and it resulted in a stalemate.
Ernesto Valverde
Prior to landing the Barcelona job in 2017, Valverde built up his reputation with clubs like Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao.
Funnily enough, Guardiola only ever faced Valverde on one occasion and the game ended in a 1-1 draw between Barcelona and Villarreal at Camp Nou.
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Steve Agnew
Agnew has only ever managed 18 matches during his entire career and yet he still managed to take a point off Guardiola while he was the caretaker Middlesbrough boss.
Man City nearly lost the game too, but Gabriel Jesus managed to salvage a point for Guardiola’s side with a late equaliser at the Riverside back in 2017.
Juanma Lillo
Barcelona had to come from behind twice to draw with UD Almeria back in March 2010. Lillo was the Almeria coach at the time and that was the only game he ever managed against Guardiola.
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Bruno Genesio
Guardiola faced Genesio on two separate occasions in 2018-19 and failed to win either match. Genesio was the Lyon boss at the time and they faced Man City in the Champions League group stages.
Despite failing to beat Lyon on both occasions, Man City still managed to top the group in the end and progress to the knockout stages.
Paul Cook
Sure, Guardiola has won multiple league titles and Champions League trophies, but has he ever won promotion from the National League? Didn’t think so.
Man City faced Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup fifth round back in 2017-18 and Cook’s side pulled off one of the shocks of the century as they claimed a shock 1-0 win.
Will Grigg scored the decisive goal and the rest is history. Funnily enough, Wigan Athletic are one of just two clubs that Guardiola has faced and has never won against in his career.
Achim Beierlorzer
Guardiola faced Beierlorzer for the one and only time back in December 2021 as Man City played RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Beierlorzer was the interim manager during that time and he managed to mastermind a 2-1 win against Guardiola’s men in the group stages.
Nathan Jones
This one still feels like a fever dream. The only manager who stopped Man City from winning an unprecedented quadruple in 2022-23 was none other than Nathan Jones.
It didn’t take long until the Southampton fans lost faith in the Welsh boss, but he still managed to beat Guardiola in the League Cup during his short stint at St Mary’s.
In total, Jones only won five matches as Southampton boss and one of them just so happened to be against Guardiola.