Pep Guardiola's Biography

Who is Pep Guardiola?

Pep Guardiola (full name: Josep Guardiola Sala) was born on 18 January 1971 in Santpedor, Spain.

In 1984, aged just 13, Guardiola joined the famous La Masia academy, in which Barcelona has historically nurtured so much footballing talent.

He started his football career playing for Barcelona B (1990-92) and then Barcelona (1990-2001).

Pep Guardiola won 6 La Liga titles as a player with Barcelona and was a key figure in what became know as Johan Cruyff's 'dream team'.

After leaving Barcelona, Pep Guardiola had stints as a player at Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and Dorados in Mexico.

At the international level, Guardiola notched up 47 caps for Spain from 1992 to 2001.

After his successful playing career, Pep Guardiola became a manager, and once more he evolved from Barcelona B (2007-08) to Barcelona (2008-2012).

His time at the helm of the first team, saw Barcelona win 3 La Liga titles, 3 Supercopa de Espana titles, 2 Copa Del Rey titles, 2 Champions League titles, 2 Uefa Super Cups, and 2 Fifa World Club Cups.

In 2012, Guardiola took a break from football, but returned in 2013 to become the manager of Bayern Munich for the start of the 2013-14 season.

In 2014, Pep Guardiola told Marti Perarnau:

"I loathe all that passing for the sake of it, all that tiki taka. It’s so much rubbish and has no purpose. You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition’s goal. It’s not about passing for the sake of it."

On 1 February 2016, it was announced that Pep Guardiola would join Manchester City at the end of the 2015/16 season, taking over from Manuel Pellegrini, who would leave on 30 June 2016.

In the 2017/18 season Manchester City, under Guardiola won the Premiership with a record number of points.

On 17 May 2018, Guardiola agreed a new contract with Manchester City to keep him there until 2021.

In October 2018, Pep Guardiola gave an interview where he talked about his life including his feelings on the night his wife and two daughters were caught up in the Mancster Arena attack.

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