Pep Guardiola starts his latest bid to lead Manchester City to Champions League glory with the shadows of past failures casting doubt on his ability to secure that elusive title.
City host Porto in their opening Champions League group match on Wednesday with Guardiola’s failing in the tournament weighing heavily on both the Spanish boss and his club.
Despite all their domestic success in recent years, City have never gone beyond the semi-finals of the Champions League and Guardiola has found the competition equally vexing for much of the last decade.
Since he won the Champions League as Barcelona boss for the second time in 2011, Guardiola has failed to return to the final of Europe’s elite club competition.