‘You must always respect your opponent’: Louis van Gaal believes Pep Guardiola has failed in the Champions League with Manchester City because he only cares about HIS team
- Champions League glory has evaded Pep Guardiola during his time at Man City
- He has guided them to the quarter-finals twice but cannot get any further
- Since winning with Barcelona back in 2011, he is yet to reach another final
- Louis van Gaal believes it’s because he is too preoccupied with his own team
Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has launched a withering attack on Pep Guardiola’s Champions League tactics with Manchester City.
Guardiola’s City have dominated the Premier League in recent years but that European title has proved elusive – and Van Gaal believes he knows why.
The Dutchman, who won the title with Ajax back in 1995, offered an honest appraisal of Guardiola’s teams in Europe since he left Barcelona in 2012.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City side have not lived up to expectations in the Champions League
Louis van Gaal believes it i because the manager is too preoccupied with his own team
‘Winning the English League for the second time in a row is fantastic. Guardiola has won all that can be won in England, but the big level is Champions (League),’ Van Gaal said to France Football.
‘And that he could not win with either City or Bayern, this is the consequence of being overly concerned about your team’s game and not caring about your opponent’s game.
‘You must always respect your opponent. Guardiola and [Erik] ten Hag have high quality teams for their national rivals. But that doesn’t apply to Champions.’
Guardiola won two Champions Leagues with Barca, in 2009 and 2011, but has not reached the final since with his subsequent clubs, Bayern Munich and City.
Guardiola won the tournament twice with Barcelona but has failed to reach the final since
The Spaniard guided Bayern to the semi-finals in his first season in Bavaria in 2013-14 and repeated the feat the following year. Indeed in his third and final season at the Allianz Arena he reached the last-four again, eventually losing to Atletico courtesy of an away goal.
He sought a new challenge in England and set about dominating the domestic game. His side have set the league alight, claiming record points totals on his way to winning back-to-back titles and an FA Cup.
But on the continent, he has had far less success.
In his first season he reached the round of 16, the following campaign they went one better but were dumped out at the quarter-finals before repeating the feat last season.
Get your FREE Premier League Fixtures Guide in association with Sky Sports, only inside Saturday’s Daily Mail.
