(foto: Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola admitted relief over Carlo Ancelotti’s departure from club football, recalling the Italian’s habit of eliminating him from the Champions League with Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola didn't hide his feelings about Carlo Ancelotti's move away from club football. After years of memorable and often painful encounters in the Champions League, the Catalan coach admitted he's relieved to see his Italian rival step away from the club scene.
Ancelotti, who has now taken charge of the Brazilian national team, said goodbye to Real Madrid and with it ended an era of intense battles with Guardiola's teams, especially in the Champions League knockout rounds.
"I'm very happy for Carlo Ancelotti, but at the same time I'm also extremely happy that I won't face him in club football anymore, because he beat me very regularly with Real Madrid! Now I finally won't have to deal with that anymore," Guardiola said with a smile.
It's easy to understand his frustration. Ancelotti eliminated Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2014, and later knocked out Manchester City in 2022, 2024, and 2025. Guardiola’s only successful knockout win against Ancelotti came in 2023.
In total, the two managerial icons have clashed 14 times across competitions: six wins for Ancelotti, six for Guardiola, and two draws. However, when it comes to the decisive Champions League knockouts, the Italian had the upper hand.
It's worth noting that most of Ancelotti's losses to Guardiola occurred during his time at Everton, where he didn’t have the same tools to compete against City.