Man City board have made stunning Pep Guardiola decision | OneFootball

Man City were dumped out of the Champions League earlier this week, and it was another nail in the coffin of an awful season for Pep Guardiola and his squad.

They were well beaten at the Santiago Bernabeu, though Erling Haaland’s injury meant he was spared from any of the ridicule that was given to his team-mates.

Pep Guardiola enduring awful season with Man City

With 115 charges still hanging over them, a hollow victory in their APT case against the Premier League, and general poor form over the past few months, it really has been the most testing time of Guardiola’s managerial career since it began at Barcelona in 2008.

Pep Guardiola shows his frustration during the UEFA Champions League match against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on February 19, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Not to mention some well publicised personal issues that he’s also had to deal with.

Given everything that’s going on, no one could really blame the Catalan if he decided to walk out and take advantage of another sabbatical.

Whilst there’s no suggestion at this point that the 54-year-old does want out, there’s been a significant shift from the Man City board.

Man City board won’t stand in Pep Guardiola’s way

According to The Telegraph (subscription required), the hierarchy won’t stand in Guardiola’s way if he does decide that he’s had enough.

That the club even feel that there’s a need to publicise their intentions could be seen as a pre-cursor to Pep bidding them goodbye, and laying the groundwork in the media for supporters to get used to the idea ahead of time.

In the meantime, there is still a fight to the end of the season to ensure that the reigning Premier League champions and serial English top-flight winners actually make it into next season’s Champions League.

Currently occupying the fourth and final qualification spot, Aston Villa who are in ninth position are only five points behind, so any one out of the Villains, Fulham, Newcastle, Chelsea and Bournemouth could, theoretically, put a run together which would put City into the Europa League at best.