19.10.2010 13:13

Guardiola’s fantastic first 30

David Puig

Pep Guardiola may have only been in charge at Camp Nou for just over two years but he oversees his 30th European encounter when FC Barcelona entertain FC Copenhagen on Wednesday evening.

The Blaugrana boss has an incredible record in the Champions League as the club have won the tournament once and reached the semi finals also. Guardiola first game in charge in the competition was on 13 August, 2008 when Barça played Wisla and since then he has been on the bench 28 more times recording a tally of 15 wins, ten draws and four defeats.

Memorable games

The statistics maybe impressive, but some of the performances by the team under Guardiola have been even more spectacular. The final in Rome two seasons ago against Manchester United stands out while the fluid and attacking style of football has seen the Catalan side win many new fans around the world. Triumphs like the 4-1 demolition of Arsenal, the 4-0 win over Bayern Munich and the 5-2 thrashing of Olympique Lyon and 2-0 triumph against Inter are memories to be cherished.

Impressive stats

Guardiola is only one six coaches that have won the Champions League and are currently taking charge of a side in the competition this season. The others are Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Rafa Benítez at Inter and Louis van Gaal at Bayern.

When compared with these outstanding trainers Guardiola's record stands up well. His Barça side have scored an average of 2.13 goals per game compared to Van Gaal's overall record 1.88 per match. In his 29 matches Guardiola has lost four games, 13 per cent, while Ferguson has lost 19 per cent of matches with Manchester United.