In a timely relief from the stulftifying dullness of Transfer Deadline Day, Manchester City confirmed that Pep Guardiola will succeed Manuel Pelligrini as manager.
Nice work from Man City as I reckon Sky were another hour of boredom away from lifting the purple dildo ban
— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) February 1, 2016
Thus far, Guardiola has failed to win the league just once as a manger, when Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid pipped Barcelona to the La Liga title in 2012.
The Premier League will likely offer Guardiola his stiffest test as a manager, so we took a look at his record against the mangers he will likely face in the league next season.
Guus Hiddink has been omitted as it is assumed he won't be Chelsea manager next season.
Vs Mauricio Pochettino: Win Ratio 50%
Played 10, Won 5, Drew 4, Lost 1
Guardiola has faced the Spurs manager frequently, as Pochettino managed Barcelona's local rivals Espanyol from 2009 to 2012. Pochettino began with a solid record against Guardiola, drawing 0-0 in the Copa Del Rey first leg in 2009 only to lose the second leg 3-2. Guardiola then lost to Espanyol at the Camp Nou in the league a month later. It was Barca's second league defeat of the season, following a 1-0 reversal to Numancia on the opening day of the season.
His record improved somewhat from there: never losing to Pochettino again but drew thrice, winning four times. It is a somewhat encouraging record for Spurs ahead of next season.
Vs Jurgen Klopp: Win Ratio 50%
Played 8, Won 4, Drew 0, Lost 4
Liverpool fans can also feel relatively optimistic about their managers record against Guardiola. All of these games came when Guardiola managed Bayern Munich.
Klopp handed Guardiola a 4-2 defeat in his first competitive game, in the 2013 German Super Cup final. Guardiola won his next game against Klopp - a 3-0 victory in the league - only to lose by the same scoreline the following April. That defeat proved to be irrelevant however as Bayern won the league, finishing a massive 19 points ahead of Dortmund. Klopp's pain was to be worsened in the German Cup final at the end of that season, which Bayern won 2-0.
Coming soon to a Premier League near you: pic.twitter.com/gHFAU5Y8Ck
— Howler Magazine (@whatahowler) February 1, 2016
The following season played out similarly: a defeat to Klopp in the Super Cup followed by a victory in the league. Guardiola did win the second league encounter in April 2015, only to lose the German Cup quarter-final three weeks later 2-0 on penalties.
https://youtu.be/muiDnHxfsVM
Crucially, Guardiola finished ahead of Klopp in both of the Bundesliga seasons in which they competed against each other.
Vs Arsene Wenger: Win Ratio 50%
Played 8, Won 4 Drew 2, Lost 2
Another Premier League manager against whom Guardiola has won half of his games, although this statistic is slightly misleading. Owing to Arsenal's incredible proclivity for failing to top their Champions League group, they were frequently drawn against Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the knockout stages.
Whilst Guardiola has only won half of the games in which he has faced Wenger, he has never failed to progress at his expense.
In 2010, Guardiola's Barcelona drew 2-2 at the Emirates in the Champions League quarter-finals, only to win the return leg 4-1, with all of the goals coming courtesy of Lionel Messi.
https://youtu.be/L1Gd8HfcU1A
A year later the two sides met in the last 16, and Arsenal won the first leg 2-1. Barca, however, won the return leg 3-1, a game remembered for an incredibly harsh sending off of Robin Van Persie.
Three years later - in 2014 - Guardiola's Bayern beat Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League, with the return leg finishing 1-1. The sides also met in this season's group stage: Arsenal beat Bayern 2-0 at home, only to be hammered 5-1 in Munich two weeks later. Bayern topped the group with Arsenal second.
Vs Quique Sanchez Flores: Win Ratio 66%
Played 3, Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 1
A 2-1 league defeat to Atletico Madrid in 2010 means that Guardiola has lost at least once against all the familiar faces he will face in next season's Premier League.
The following season, Guardiola beat Flores' Atletico twice, meaning his record against the current Watford is slightly better than the others.
Vs Sam Allardyce: Win Ratio 0%
We won't be pedantic and list the previous encounters between the two men (there may not have been any), but Guardiola has it all to prove against Big Sam (should Sunderland avoid relegation, of course).
Of course, if Sam's name was pronounced slightly different, he may have crossed paths with Guardiola already (in his opinion at least).
We can only hope he welcomes Guardiola in the same manner he welcomed this Spanish footballer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYgkR-yXDjo
While we are at it, here is his record against two managers who might just be in the Premier League next season:
Vs Jose Mourinho: Win Ratio 50%
Played 16, Won 8, Drew 5, Lost 3
Mourinho versus Guardiola is one of the most intense managerial rivalries in the game. Mourinho has been one of the few men to successfully get under Guardiola's skin (Zlatan is another) and Mourinho is the only manager to successfully deny Guardiola a leage title.
It was while these men managed Barca and Madrid did El Clasico descend into an eye-gouging, finger-pointing and injury-feigning sideshow.
The two first met when Mourinho managed Inter Milan in the 2009/2010 Champions League. They drew the first group game with Barca winning the second game at the Camp Nou, only for Inter to knock holders Barcelona out of the semi-finals that season.
The rivalry ratcheted up considerably when Mourinho joined Real Madrid the following season, with Guardiola's Barcelona inflicting that stunning 5-0 defeat upon Madrid in Mourinho's maiden clasico as manager. It was Mourinho's heaviest defeat as manager.
The two faced each other just once with Guardiola in charge of Bayern: the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, which Chelsea lost on penalties.
Should Mourinho take over at United, the prospect of these two sharing both a touchline and a city will initially be fascinating, only to inevitably descend to farce.
Vs Diego Simeone: Win Ratio 100%
Played 1, Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 0
Simeone was only appointed Ateltico manager in in Guardiola's final season meaning Guardiola has only faced him once as a manager: a game in which Pep's Barcelona won 2-1 at the Vincente Calderon.
Should Simeone get the Chelsea job, expect fireworks more intense and less petty than those Mourinho may enact.
