Pep Guardiola stumbles again with Bayern in Champions League

  • 04/05/2016
Pep Guardiola (AAP)
Pep Guardiola (AAP)

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola was brought to the club to extend their European dominance, but will leave at the end of the season having lost three successive Champions League semi-finals.

An away goals defeat to Atletico Madrid, despite a 2-1 win in Germany on Wednesday (NZT), sealed Bayern's elimination from this season's competition and ended Guardiola's hopes of going out on a European high.

"That is football. You can play better and still be eliminated," said Guardiola, who will move to Manchester City next season.

The Spaniard arrived at Bayern following their 2013 treble-winning season, but rather than tighten their stranglehold on the continental competition, he has always fallen at the last four, each time against a different Spanish side.

"I feel sorry for my players because they deserved the very best," he said.

Guardiola, who had won 14 titles in four years at former club Barcelona, including two Champions League triumphs, would not be drawn into analysing his record at Bayern, who can win a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title this week.

"I was very happy here. I worked for the players, not for a track record," he said.

Reuters