Manchester City's exit from the Champions League means Pep Guardiola's drought in the competition continues with the Spaniard now going 11 years without winning the title.
The reigning Premier League champions crashed out of the tournament in the most dramatic of circumstances as Real Madrid scored two goals in stoppage time to force extra time, before Karim Benzema's penalty secured a 3-1 victory (6-5 on aggregate) to send Madrid through to the final against Liverpool.
Guardiola has won the Champions League with Barcelona on two occasions, once in 2009 and then again in 2011, but that is the last time he has held the trophy aloft as he's fired blanks with Bayern Munich and City.
Guardiola's sides usually enter the competition as the favourites so the fact he has gone over a decade without winning it is peculiar, to say the least.
There have been plenty of near-misses, akin to City's meltdown at the Bernabeu, including the Manchester club's defeat to Chelsea a year ago. Seven of Guardiola's eliminations have seen decisive periods that were sudden collapses or a flurry of goals conceded which has led to tongue-in-cheek suggestions that he must have a Champions League curse.
But according to Yaya Toure's agent, he actually does. The former City player's representative infamously claimed in 2018 that Guardiola would never win the Champions League again because African shamans won't allow it
The midfielder had a bitter fallout with the Spaniard over his lack of playing time at the Etihad and eventual exit as Toure suggested he had a problem with African players - a claim he later apologised for - which at the time, prompted his agent to state that he will never win the Champions League again as a manager because of an African curse.
“God sees everything,” said Dimitry Seluk. “As a man who acted with Yaya, the legend of the club, which under different pretexts did not give the opportunity to go on the field.
“He turned all Africa against himself, many African fans turned away from Manchester City. And I’m sure that many African shamans in the future will not allow Guardiola to win the Champions League. This will be for Guardiola an African curse. Life will show whether I am right or not.”
It's a farfetched theory but the hard facts are Guardiola hasn't won the Champions League since those remarks - here's a look at he has fared in the competition since his last victory in 2011.
2012
Guardiola's defence was going well until they met Chelsea in the semi-final who were seemingly on a mission in 2012. It was advantage to Chelsea after a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge but Barca had one foot in the final in the return leg at the Nou Camp in what is one of the most memorable games in recent history. Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta had put Barcelona 2-1 ahead in the tie and the Blues were in serious trouble as John Terry was sent off, but a delightful Ramires trip tied things up. Barca were in the ascendency as they looked for a winner with Lionel Messi hitting the crossbar with a penalty but they couldn't find the breakthrough. Fernando Torres then produced one of the most iconic moments in the tournament as he broke away in a counter-attack, taking the ball around Victor Valdes to slot home the equaliser into an empty net - sending Chelsea through to the final which they would eventually win against Bayern Munich.
2014
Guardiola's debut season in Germany was a success on the domestic front sealing the double with Bayern Munich but the Spaniard fell short at the semi-final stage once again as Real Madrid knocked them out. Bayern lost the first leg 1–0 at the Bernabeu, Guardiola's first loss at the iconic venue, before being dominated in the return leg as the Spanish side ran out 4-0 winners, scoring three goals in 18 minutes, to send Bayern tumbling out of the Champions League. The coach's tactics were widely criticised as he was singled out by German publication Kicker who called Guardiola "the key to the crisis."
2015
Guardiola would once again reach the final four of the Champions League, Bayern's fourth successive semi-final, and once again crashed out after a late flurry of goals. The Spaniard came up against Barcelona, the first time facing his former club since his departure, but it wasn't the homecoming he envisioned. The tie was petty much over at the halfway stage as Barca scored three late goals at the Nou Camp with Messi netting a quickfire double in the 77th and 80th minute, before Neymar sealed a 3-0 win. Bayern would respond with a 3-1 win at the Allianz Arena in the second leg but they never really had a chance of overturning the deficit.
2016
Guardiola would seal his second domestic double at Bayern in what was his final season in Germany, but he couldn't leave them with a Champions League as a parting gift. It was so close, yet so far for the Spaniard once again as his side went out at the semi-final stage - this time against Atletico Madrid. It was a tightly contested affair as Bayern would end up going out on away goals. Diego Simeone's side sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg in Madrid but the Bavaria club could only manage a 2-1 victory in the return leg.
2017
Guardiola's first year at Manchester City didn't go well as he went trophyless at the Etihad. City couldn't get past the last 16 stage of the Champions League which epitomised their struggles as Kylian Mbappe's Monaco put them out on away goals. It was an iconic tie as the French side built a 3-1 lead after the first leg. City did give themselves a chance of progressing after Raheem Sterling's opener in the return leg but conceding two goals in eight minutes gave themselves a mountain to climb. They made a late surge to lead 5-3 (6-6 on aggregate) however but they couldn't find the decisive goal as Monaco went through on away goals.
2018
City bounced back in style domestically as they clinched the Premier League title with a record-breaking 100 points, but that success didn't translate over to the Champions League. They went one step further than the previous year but that's as far as they would go as Liverpool stifled their challenge. Jurgen Klopp's men overpowered City in the first leg with a 3-0 win at Anfield (conceding all three in the space of 19 minutes) with the tie practically over as the Reds progressed to the final four with a 2-1 win in the return leg (5-1 on aggregate).
2019
City would fall short at the hands of another Premier League rival a year later - this time it was Tottenham. Spurs would take a 1-0 lead to the Etihad for the return leg in what was a dramatic and controversial evening in Manchester. Guardiola's men secured a 4-3 victory in the return leg but would once again go out on away goals. Raheem Sterling was in the thick of it as he gave City an early lead but their momentum was immediately halted as Son Heung-min scored two goals in three minutes. City responded with three goals to give them a 4-2 lead and were on course to reach the next round until Fernando Llorente's strike made it 4-3. Sterling scored a goal in stoppage with City thinking they had clinched it right at the death, but VAR ruled it out for offside.
2020
City would be eliminated at the quarter-final stage for the third successive season during the Covid hit season as Lyon stunned Guardiola and co. It was an unorthodox one-legged tie due to the restrictions in place as Moussa Dembele's late double, scoring two goals in eight minutes, left City reeling after putting out Real Madrid in the previous round.
2021
It seemed that Guardiola's 'curse' was finally about to be broken as City reached the final to face Chelsea, but it was another big game they didn't show their true potential. Kai Havertz's solitary goal sealed a 1-0 win for Thomas Tuchel's men as City would lose to a domestic rival for the third time in the space of five years.
2022
Arguably, the meltdown of all meltdowns. City were seemingly in control of the tie after taking a 1-0 lead (5-3 on aggregate) through Riyad Mahrez in the return leg until Rodrygo stunned the reigning Premier League champions with two stoppage-time goals to force extra time. Madrid then went on to secure the 3-1 win (6-5 on aggregate) as Karim Benzema scored a penalty to set up a Champions League final against Liverpool in Paris. City wasted countless opportunities across both legs, as well as letting a two-goal lead with six minutes left of regulation, conceding three goals in 11 minutes, to crash out of the competition in the most spectacular fashion. Guardiola's 'curse' strikes again.
