Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager, returns to the Real Madrid stronghold, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where he achieved more victories than any other coach.
Manchester City will be guests at Real Madrid on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League soccer round of 16, in a highly anticipated clash that repeats for the fifth consecutive season.
Guardiola tightens his grip on the Bernabeu
The Spanish coach has an outstanding record against Real Madrid, having won half of the times he visited the "Bernabeu", which has become the "Guardiola Garden" according to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".
Guardiola has beaten Real Madrid in 7 out of 14 visits to the famous stadium with all the teams he has led, the most recent of which was in December in the league stage of the Champions League.
Guardiola returned from the stadium, which "poses a significant psychological burden on opponents", with 4 draws and only 3 defeats, and his teams have scored 28 goals while conceding 20 times according to the same newspaper data.
Stunning results with Barcelona
"Against Guardiola, Real Madrid itself suffers from the fear of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium," commented "Mundo Deportivo," noting that the Spanish coach won 5 times with Barcelona and twice with Manchester City at the venue.
Guardiola did not lose any match at the "Bernabeu" during his tenure as coach of Barcelona in 7 different competitions, and his first defeat there came on his eighth visit when he was coaching Bayern Munich, while his other two defeats occurred while he was at the helm of Manchester City.
Results of matches played by teams coached by Guardiola against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu:
• Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona (Round 34 of the Spanish League 2008-2009 season).
• Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona (Round 31 of the Spanish League 2009-2010 season).
• Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Round 32 of the Spanish League 2010-2011 season).
• Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona (first leg of Champions League semi-finals 2010-2011 season).
• Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona (first leg of the Spanish Super Cup final 2011).
• Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona (Round 16 of the Spanish League 2011-2012 season).
• Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (first leg of the Spanish King's Cup quarter-finals 2011-2012).
• Real Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich (first leg of Champions League semi-finals 2013-2014).
• Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City (first leg of Champions League round of 16 2019-2020).
• Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City (return match of Champions League semi-finals 2021-2022).
• Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City (first leg of Champions League semi-finals 2022-2023).
• Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City (first leg of Champions League quarter-finals 2023-2024).
• Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City (first leg of knock-out phase for Champions League 2024-2025).
• Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City (Round six of the group stage for Champions League 2025-2026).
Manchester City shines
In his next visit to Santiago Bernabeu, Manchester City comes armed with impressive records, having lost only 3 matches out of their last 18 encounters against Spanish teams, achieving 10 victories and 5 draws.
