"Has not managed anything that others have not" - Former Liverpool star claims Manchester City's Pep Guardiola isn't best manager in the world

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has said that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola should not be considered the best manager in the world.

The German reckons Guardiola's lack of recent success in European competitions doesn't make him worthy of being considered the world's best manager. The Spanish tactician won two UEFA Champions League titles in his first three seasons as Barcelona's head coach.

However, the Manchester City boss hasn't won the competition since the 2010-11 season. He reached the final with the Sky Blues in the 2020-21 campaign, where his team were beaten 1-0 by Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea.

Ahead of Manchester City's Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday (April 11), Hamann told German outlet Solinger Tageblatt (h/t HITC):

"Guardiola has not managed anything that others have not managed. Everybody tells you that Pep Guardiola is the super father of coaches. But he was in a Champions League final with Man City, and he lost that himself. And now people tell me he’s the best manager in the world, I’m sorry."

It's worth mentioning that only Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane (both three) and Carlo Ancelotti (four) have won more Champions League titles than Guardiola. The former Barcelona manager has won 32 trophies in his managerial career and has made Manchester City a dominant force in England.

The Cityzens have won four of the last five Premier League titles under Guardiola. However, European success has been elusive.

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Pep Guardiola defends Manchester City's UCL record ahead of Bayern Munich tie

Pep Guardiola has said that Manchester City's lack of success in the UEFA Champions League is largely due to the quality of the opponents they have faced.

At his pre-match conference before City's clash against Bayern Munich, the Spaniard said (h/t Sky Sports):

"It’s an honour to be here, against an elite club like Bayern Munich. We are happy to be here. You have to deserve it. Six, seven years ago when I arrived here - ‘you are here to win the Champions League’. It comes every season.

Guardiola, who managed Bayern from 2013 to 2016, added:

"We tried every season, but there are teams you face who are good too, and they want to win it too. We want to try, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win."

AS Monaco, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Lyon, Chelsea and Real Madrid have eliminated City from the Champions League since Guardiola took over in July 2016. They have been knocked out in the quarterfinals four out of six times under the Spanish manager.