‘Pep blamed himself’ - Guardiola’s toughest defeat at Man City explained by club executive - which saw him threaten to resign before chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak intervened

The match in question isn't necessarily an obvious one. Despite high-profile defeats in the Champions League to clubs including Tottenham in 2019 and Real Madrid in 2022, as well as difficult clashes with Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs in the Premier League, the book claims that the most impactful loss for Pep was a quarter-final defeat to Lyon in 2020.

In a revised edition of 'Pep's City: The Making of a Superteam' by Pol Ballus and Lu Martin, the inside scoop of the side's defeat by the Ligue 1 outfit is laid out in detail. According to the book, the pain of an "agonising loss" in Lisbon's Jose Alvalade Stadium on August 15, 2020 endured "more than Monaco in 2017, more than Liverpool in 2018, more than Tottenham in 2019."

According to a senior executive at the club, "It was one of those make-or-break moments. Pep blamed himself and I think he might have offered to resign if [chairman] Khaldoon hadn't intervened. He came down to the dressing room immediately after the game... and said three things: 'It's been a tough night, but we'll come back from this. This isn't our year but our time will come as long as we don't let it knock us sideways. Right now, we need to believe in ourselves more than ever.' Pep was stunned."

Of course, the rest is history. City bounced back from that bizarre and unique Covid-impacted season to win three consecutive Premier League titles and top it off with their first ever Champions League trophy in 2023/24. Pep may have been at his lowest following that shock Lyon defeat, but it's been an unstoppable upward trajectory for the club ever since.

According to Ballus and Martin, Pep considers the Lyon loss to be "one of the turning points in the modern history of Manchester City. He knew he approached that match with the same attention to detail as ever. But, on the night, his 3-5-2 had been powerless against the French onslaught."

It's remarkable to think what may have happened in the years since if Guardiola had decided to call time on his City career back in 2020. Instead, the Spaniard elected to stay at the helm - and claims he will continue to do so even if the club are heavily penalised over multiple FFP breaches.