Guardiola: League performance defines success, not Champions League

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Pep Guardiola believes the performance of a team in their league campaign is what determines the success of a season, not their Champions League display.

The Spaniard has plenty of experience of winning the Champions League, doing so twice with Barcelona before delivering Manchester City their maiden title in the competition.

Across his time with City, Barca and Bayern Munich, Guardiola has won 61.3% of his 191 Champions League games (W117 D39 L35), seeing his teams score 444 goals in those matches.

Only Carlo Ancelotti (123) has won more games in the competition than Guardiola, who has managed the third-most games.

Barca have won back-to-back LaLiga titles under Hansi Flick, but the Blaugrana are yet to reach the Champions League showpiece under the German coach.

Guardiola, however, claimed chasing a Champions League title could derail the club’s current plans.

“The Champions League is a competition that destroys projects, and I hope that’s not the case at Barca,” said the former City boss.

It’s been 11 years since this beautiful moment  pic.twitter.com/Pnu5miDvxF

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 6, 2026

“We must not think that just because you don’t win it, everything that has been built is no good.

“The league is the competition that gives you consistency and continuity. In the Champions League, you need to reach the decisive stages in good condition, without injuries, and refereeing also has a huge impact.

“What matters is that the daily work is excellent, that the team keeps growing and improving, and that they don’t believe the season is a failure just because they don’t reach the Champions League final or win it.

“The league is what sets the foundation for judging whether a season has been good or not.”

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