Manchester City

To understand Pep Guardiola's true weight in football history, consider this. His fingerprints are on everything.

It really started with a sentence. When Joan Laporta was weighing up whether to give Guardiola the Barcelona job, Pep looked at him and said: "No tindras els collons." ("You don't have the balls.")

His only managerial honour at the time was the Spanish third division. Laporta gave him the job. Football changed. Guardiola changed it.

By the way, can Pep do it on bad pitches, with small crowds, with a small team? He did it in the third division with Barcelona B, with kids. Another tick.

The school he came from had two Dutch headmasters: Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. Later on came Louis van Gaal.

At Barcelona, Guardiola turned their ideas into the most complete club side the world had seen. At Bayern Munich he pushed deeper into positional play, leaving ideas German football is still working through today.

Then came the hardest test he could find: England. The home of football. The place where received wisdom said his style - all the ball, all that control and all that demand for space and movement - would not survive. The queue of people predicting failure was long.

They were wrong, but here is what makes his time as a club manager unique. Guardiola has changed how football is played across three phases of the game.

If you follow the most common framework for analysing football with the ball - building from the back, transition through the middle, play around the box, and the finishing of the action - he has systematically revolutionised the first three.

The fourth phase, the finishing itself, is one football culture is not yet ready to absorb in the way he envisions. But no manager in history has done what he has done with the first three. Now others can come and continue the work.

And at City specifically, he has built not one great team but three.

The first: a beautiful side that won league titles playing football that made neutrals stop and watch.

The second: a battle-hardened version with four centre-backs in the back four and a centre-forward - Erling Haaland - who broke every record in sight.

The third: this current iteration, still evolving, still capable of winning domestic trophies. Going back to win with each new generation of players is one of the most significant marks of a truly great manager.

Read more from Balague about what sets Guardiola apart

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There will not be a dry eye at Etihad Stadium on Sunday following the dreaded news all Manchester City fans were fearing was confirmed.

Pep Guardiola will step down as manager following the game against Aston Villa, bringing to an end a decade-long period of success under the Spaniard.

The day will give fans a chance to say goodbye to the 55-year-old, as well as witnessing the opening of the new Pep Guardiola Stand - the newly expanded North Stand being renamed in his honour.

Villa claimed the Europa League on Wednesday and so the day will have a celebratory feel about it - lets just hope the Manchester weather holds up for, what will be, a glorious occasion.

"Ten years is a lot of time and I think the club needs a new manager, new energy, these incredible players we have right now and start to write another chapter," Guardiola said in his pre-match news conference.

All signs are pointing towards Enzo Maresca as the man being given the unenviable task of following in Guardiola's footsteps.

As well as Guardiola, City will also bid farewell to captain Bernardo Silva and popular England defender John Stones with the day now becoming a real 'I was there' moment for all in attendance.

Laura Kirk-Francis
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

It has felt like there have been two weights lifted off me in the past few days. The first is Arsenal's Premier League title win and the other is news that Guardiola is leaving. My nightmare is over.

I would like to first thank Guardiola for remaining at the club long enough for Arsenal to finally triumph over him, as it makes the victory so much sweeter.

His Manchester City side have caused me so much grief, especially over the past few seasons, that I am celebrating his departure.

I am self-aware enough to realise that a lot of my negativity towards Guardiola is purely jealousy. Jealousy at the juggernaut he has created that, up until this week, nearly always had the beating of Arsenal. Jealousy at the winning mentality he seems to instil in every one of his sides.

At times, his City sides have been a painful reminder of quite how far Arsenal were from winning anything.

In time, I might be able to look back and appreciate the magnitude of his achievements, but so many of them have come at the expense of my beloved Arsenal that it is still too raw at the moment. And if I sound bitter, it is because I am.

It is hard to imagine a league without Guardiola. His departure leaves a vacuum for another side to fill with their own domination. I very much hope that side are Arsenal.

Find more from Laura Kirk-Francis at the Latte Firm podcast, external

Next season is going to feel really odd without Pep Guardiola in the Premier League.

News of his impending departure broke at the start of the week and he has been such a big part of our game with the way City have played, and the way he has changed how coaches think and how we all think about football.

I think Pep will go out on a high, helped by the fact Aston Villa will still be celebrating after their brilliant Europa League win.

City have got plenty to celebrate too, though. Yes, they missed out on the league title but they have still won two cups this season, which is not to be sniffed at.

Sutton's prediction: 4-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Chris Adams
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City and Aston Villa meet at Etihad Stadium on Sunday with both clubs bound for the Champions League next season having experienced vastly different emotions this week.

Pep Guardiola's City handed the title to Arsenal with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday, meaning they will have to settle for second place and a domestic cup double.

Adios, Pep

With Guardiola having confirmed his departure on Friday, the send-off for the Spaniard – plus playing legends Bernardo Silva and John Stones – will surely be a rousing one given the 20 trophies he has delivered in his decade-long reign.

Presently, City are on a 15-game unbeaten streak in the league, having lost just once since November. Erling Haaland has scored in each of the past five games and is extremely likely to pick up the Premier League Golden Boot yet again, leading Brentford's Igor Thiago by 27 goals to 22.

A third award in four seasons in England would see the Norway striker join lofty company – just four players have three or more wins to their name.

Victory against Villa would give City the best home record in the competition – the only time they've lost at the Etihad this season was against Tottenham Hotspur in their first such game of the campaign way back in August.

In this exact fixture, City have been dominant for the past two decades; they've won 19 of their past 20 league home games against the Birmingham club, emerging victorious in all 15 since a 2-0 loss in April 2007.

The Etihad's expanded North Stand – which is to be renamed the Pep Guardiola Stand – was tested successfully midweek, meaning this match will almost certainly set a new attendance record for the stadium.

Victorious Villa

Aston Villa could be forgiven for dismissing this game as an irrelevance given their emphatic win over Freiburg in Wednesday's Europa League final, the club's first major trophy in 30 years.

But where Unai Emery's side finish in the table has enormous ramifications for the other top-flight clubs chasing European football.

If Villa, currently fourth, were to end up fifth, it would mean a sixth Premier League team qualifies for next season's Champions League, albeit the two Europa League spots would be reduced to one (whoever comes seventh). The team in eighth would earn a spot in the Conference League.

England internationals Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been crucial to Villa's success this season and both were named in Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad on Friday.

Rogers has been involved in more goals this season than any other Englishman attached to a Premier League club. Watkins is joint-second, underlining the debt Villa owe to the pair.

Emery's men won the reverse fixture 1-0 in October through a Matty Cash strike, meaning Villa are looking to complete the league double over City for the first time since 1962-63.

They do, however, tend to struggle with the season's closer. The Villains have lost their final Premier League match of the season more often than any other side (16), including a 3-2 loss at the Etihad in 2021-22.

Image source, Getty Images

This is the moment Manchester City have been dreading, but the whole of English football is going to miss Pep Guardiola too.

He's a true legend of the game, and I am gutted he is going - the Premier League just won't be the same without him.

Pep is one of the best managers we've ever seen. The greatest ever? Well, it's hard to disrespect Sir Alex Ferguson when you have that conversation, but those were different times - Pep's the greatest manager of the modern era, that's for sure.

When he replaced Manuel Pellegrini in 2016, City already had some very good players so he was not starting from scratch, but he did not just go on to dominate English football for a decade, he changed it too.

Now everyone plays the way City do, passing out from the back. That didn't happen before he arrived.

Pep's never been afraid to move people around either. He sees the player, not the position, I guess, and makes them an important part of his system and style, in the way he wants to use them.

When it works it is incredible. Like the 2023 Champions League final when City beat Inter Milan in arguably the biggest game in the club's history, and he had a centre-half - John Stones - essentially playing in midfield.

He sees things like that which other managers would never even think of trying. Things that don't appear obvious to us, are to him. And he has done it consistently over the years.

After his first season in England when he didn't win anything and City only made the top four, everyone was saying how his style wouldn't work here, and you can't play that way in the Premier League.

They were wrong, and he has won everything he wanted to win - and kept on winning too.

He's won so much because he has kept on reinventing things - it's not just one trick, one idea or one approach that has brought him success. He's never had only one way of winning games, so that has made City very hard to stop.

Read more of Micah Richards' column here

Alex Turk
Fan writer

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So is this how it feels, huh?

On 8 May 2013, the football world rejoiced when the news came through that Sir Alex Ferguson was walking away from Manchester United and into retirement.

After 38 trophies in 27 years - including 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League crowns and the first Treble by an English side - you could understand the relief.

Now, with Manchester City confirming Pep Guardiola is on his way out of Etihad Stadium, the feeling is mutual.

Praise for anything related to City understandably comes with hesitation while 115 charges for alleged financial rule breaches linger, but Guardiola's Ferguson-like thirst for lifting silverware, and his undoubted influence on the English game, cannot be ignored.

A total of 20 trophies across 10 years - including six league titles, City's inaugural European Cup and the second Treble by an English side - should make it no surprise that we are glad to see the back of him.

It's not quite Ferguson, and calls for Guardiola to be recognised as the Premier League's greatest manager are purely reactionary.

That said, as with all great football rivalries, there is admittedly a layer of respect that seldom leaks out.

Guardiola has watched four United managers come and go during his time in Manchester, yet he has always shown this great club the respect it demands.

In another life, he was the chosen one, not David Moyes. Where would that have taken us?

It is fitting how, 15 minutes before the confirmation of Guardiola's departure, United announced Michael Carrick's appointment as permanent head coach.

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't hope of City suffering the same hangover as we did after Ferguson's departure.

If United and Carrick get it right this summer, there is a serious opportunity for the hierarchy of power in Manchester to change.

Find more from Alex Turk at Turk Talks FC, external

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The signs have certainly pointed to a departure in the past week or so.

Last Friday, Pep Guardiola was asked whether the following day's visit to Wembley Stadium would be his last - Guardiola said "no way" because he has "one more year [on his contract]".

But the playful way in which he delivered that line and his quick exit from the room raised a few eyebrows and only added to the mounting speculation.

City won the FA Cup for the third time under Guardiola by beating Chelsea on Saturday and, perhaps significantly, he took a picture holding the trophy with each member of staff one by one.

The cameras also caught him wistfully looking into the distance when the trophy celebrations were taking place on the pitch, as he took in his final moments at the national stadium.

And I asked him after the draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday whether he will still be in charge and Guardiola replied by saying he has to talk to his chairman in the next few days.

He surely would have answered by saying "I'm staying" if he was.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has labelled Pep Guardiola "the only genius" in football before his final Manchester City game.

The City boss steps down after a decade and 20 trophies at the Etihad, with Villa's visit in the Premier League on Sunday his finale.

Emery started facing Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona side with Valencia in 2008 and knows the impact he has made on the game.

"He is the best coach in the world. He is a huge inspiration for other coaches. The only genius is him," he said.

"As a competitor, wow. Always, every day, I can understand more how he is managing his team through the chapters.

"It's my pleasure to play against Guardiola. It's my honour to face him.

"I was starting in Valencia and four years in a row we were competing - Barcelona and Valencia - and it was his best moment in Barcelona. His impact was crazy good and we were always finishing third.

"I didn't beat him. They were asking me in the press conference, you can't beat Guardiola. I answered, if I am keeping my position to face him it's really been fantastic.

"I beat him here after a long time with Aston Villa and always how he shows me massive respect is something I appreciate a lot."

Will Faulks
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

It is common to remember where you were when major world events happen - and it is a sign of how momentous the news of Pep Guardiola coming to the Premier League was that I remember I was checking my phone between sets in a tennis match when it broke.

For Chelsea fans, the Guardiola era of dominance has coincided with their own team's decline. Just as he raised the level in the Premier League, Chelsea fell away.

Beating his Manchester City team at Etihad Stadium in his first season was one of the most memorable results in recent Chelsea history - and it was the moment Antonio Conte's team secured the title.

But despite the joy, there was a sense that day that Chelsea - while worthy winners of the Premier League - were facing an incomplete Guardiola team who would not make the same mistakes again.

That sense proved to be accurate. City have since won six titles since and Chelsea have not even seriously competed for one.

Guardiola's unparalleled effects on football as a whole are well documented, but what is less obvious is his direct influence on events at clubs around him.

In recent years, some managers at Chelsea have been sacked for failing to compete with him, while others have departed for failing to emulate him.

The briefings about incoming manager Xabi Alonso this week claim that a major factor in the decision to appoint him was that his football has a direct link to the style played by Enzo Maresca, who has shaped this current squad.

Maresca is of course one of Guardiola's disciples and a former assistant of his.

It is a reminder that the 'identity' Chelsea's sporting directors are trying to establish is a direct link back to Guardiola and his immeasurable impact on English football.

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News, external

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Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media after confirmation he will leave the club at the end of the season, with his final game in charge against Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 16:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• He said it's "been the experience of my life" managing Manchester City and he is "leaving with incredible peace" because he "gave everything for this club".

• On why now: "It's the time. It's a process I have felt for a while. 10 years is a lot of time and I think the club needs a new manager and new energy with the incredible players we have right now. Start to write another chapter. I did my best. I gave everything until my last drop of what I have."

• He said it is "absolutely" to do with energy levels and added: "I feel I will not have the energy required to deliver every day the expectations of titles and being around the players. I know myself. It's not because of ambition, or [that] I don't want to try it again."

• More on the toll of the job: "The passion and energy I've always had since I was a little boy, I don't feel like I will have in the future. I have to be honest to the club that gave me everything and to the people that rely on me."

• He said he is "going to take a step back" from football and "rest", adding he has "no plans" to go back into training "for a while".

• He confirmed he told the players this morning of his decision and joked that "the speech was a disaster" because he was "so nervous".

• The decision to announce his departure today was because they "cannot fight for anything else" [trophies] and he wants to "say a proper goodbye on Sunday" at the Etihad.

• He said "it's the perfect time" to depart the club as the team is "much better than last season" when they had to rebuild.

• On the North Stand being named after him: "Speechless. No words. They called me this morning and said the club took the decision. I like to feel that my vibe and my energy will be there forever. I like that feeling. In the bad moments, they can look for Pep and I will send good energy to the team and club."

Hear more from Guardiola on BBC Sounds

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We asked for your thoughts on Pep Guardiola's decision to step down at the end of this season after a decade at Manchester City.

Here are some of your comments:

Mark: Thanks for the countless memories Pep, master tactician and serial winner. The blue half of Manchester will love you forever.

Andy: I'm truly feeling a bit sick hearing this news. I was hoping he would see out his contract, but I suppose 10 years is a long time as a manager in the modern era. I wish him and his family well and that they drop in from time to time. Thanks for memories.

Ken: One of the greatest managers of all time but his humanity off the pitch as a Catalan makes him the best for me. He used his profile to speak out instead of remaining silent.

Pratyay: I'll continue being a City fan forever but I know, deep down, no gaffer can ever match Pep's heights and give me the joyride he gave me since August 2021 - the fateful time 10 days before my Bone Marrow Transplant - when I decided to become his ardent follower for the beautiful football he made his team play. The unbridled gaiety he and his players have given me since that time has, as I would like to believe, propelled me to good health. Thank you for everything and take a bow, Pep.

Louisa: Absolutely gutted because Pep is irreplaceable. What he has done for this club and UK football is absolutely awesome and that's why I class Pep as the greatest of all time.

Josh Sexton
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

It comes to something when your long-time nemesis says it is time to move on and you actually feel a little bit sad about it.

Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City feels like a chapter of English football is truly closing.

More than that, though, I actually grew to quite like this nemesis - a feeling made easier by Liverpool refusing to be any competition to his team this season.

Between his compassionate politics and his increasingly funny news conferences, the man who became the bane of our existence has started to cut a much more likeable figure.

Of course, the respect element was always there.

Yes, there are caveats to City's success, but there are very few doubts about Guardiola's greatness as a manager.

After Jurgen Klopp left Anfield in 2024, it seemed only natural that the man he went toe to toe with for so many years would move on fairly soon after.

Because, the truth is, the standards those two managers set would warp our perception of what a normal title-winning points total looks like.

Arsenal have pipped Guardiola to the Premier League this season, but they have done so with a maximum of 85 points - a climbdown from the days of Liverpool and City pushing each other to 90-plus points totals.

While the year the Reds ran away with the title in 2019-20 distorts the averages in their favour, they started 27 games unbeaten to put any doubts of City being able to break their hearts again beyond doubt, with falling short on 97 points the campaign before still fresh in the memory.

Liverpool have fallen away this season, but Guardiola moving on automatically means the barrier to entry for a title race is likely to not be as high.

Therefore, Reds supporters should be reassured that a return to the top isn't too far away, especially with such a talented group of players.

We might not see those 2018-2022 levels again for a little while, though, and for that we will always (at least partly) have Guardiola to thank.

Find more from Josh Sexton on outlets including The Anfield Wrap, external

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Confirmation of the worst kept secret in football - aside from the England World Cup squad - has finally arrived with the news that Pep Guardiola will lead out Manchester City for the final time on Sunday.

A mere 10 minutes after Manchester United confirmed Michael Carrick as permanent head coach, City sent out a press release that all their fans had been dreading.

The Spaniard has overseen an incredible decade, winning 20 trophies, but there may be a tinge of regret that his side could not overhaul Arsenal at the top of the table.

But how long has he known? When did he communicate his decision to the players and what comes next in his career?

We'll find out when he faces the cameras later.

Come back to this page for all the key lines from Guardiola.

Pep Guardiola will have a stand at the Etihad Stadium named in his honour after announcing his decision to leave Manchester City after 10 years at the helm.

The club have confirmed that the North Stand will become 'The Pep Guardiola Stand' after the Spanish tactician, who led the club to their first Champions League title.

The expanded section of Etihad Stadium is set to open fully for the first time on Sunday when City host Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season.

Image source, Getty Images

Departing Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has written an open letter to the fans who have supported him through "an unparalleled trophy-laden decade of success".

Guardiola will take charge of his final match when Aston Villa travel to Etihad Stadium on Sunday (16:00 BST).

In a letter published by Manchester City, external, Guardiola said: "When I arrived, my first interview was with Noel Gallagher. I walked out thinking: 'OK, Noel is here? This will be fun' - and what a time we have had together.

"Don't ask me the reasons I am leaving. There is no reason. But deep inside, I know it is my time. Nothing is eternal, if it was it would be here.

"Eternal will be the feeling: the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City. This city is built from work and from graft, you see it in the colour of the bricks, from the people who clock in early and stay late, from the factories, the Pankhurst, the unions, the music, the industrial revolution.

"I think I grew to understand that, and my teams did too. We worked. We suffered. We fought. We did things our own way.

"Hard work comes in many forms. Trips to Bournemouth, when we lost the Premier League, you were there. Trips to Istanbul, when you were there too.

"I remember the Manchester Arena attack. That's when this city showed the world what strength actually looks like. Not anger. Not fear. Just love. Community, togetherness, a city united.

"I remember when I lost my mum during Covid and I felt this club carry me through it. The fans, the staff, the people of Manchester gave me the strength when I needed it most. Cris [Cristina Serra], my kids and my whole family, you were there as always. Khaldoon [Al Mubarak], you were there too.

"To my players, don't forget every single instant and every single moment. Everything me, my staff and this club have done, we have done it for all of you - and you have been just exceptional. You don't know it yet, but you are leaving a legacy.

"So, as my time comes to an end, be happy. Oasis are back again!

"Ladies and gentleman, thank you for trusting me, for pushing me and for loving me.

"Tony Walsh said in his unforgettable poem: 'This is the place.' I'm sorry, Tony, this is my place. Noel [Gallagher], I was right - it has been [expletive] fun.

"Love you all."