Pep Guardiola: Star coach fights back tears at Man City farewell

Coach leaves after ten years

Emotional Man City farewell for Guardiola and his stars

After ten years, an era is ending at Manchester City. The farewell to coaching icon Pep Guardiola becomes an emotional review. A German former professional is also honored.

The professionals from Manchester City stood in line, the spectators in the packed Etihad Stadium stood up and paid tribute to their successful coach with loud applause for several minutes. After ten years, coach Pep Guardiola celebrated an emotional farewell to the Cityzens. Several professionals were also given a ceremonial farewell after the last Premier League game.

Many spectators in the stadium shed tears when a video with defining scenes from Guardiola’s time in office was shown, set to the Oasis song “Live Forever”. In addition to Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, Guardiola’s 95-year-old father Valenti also watched the ceremony in the box of honor and applauded his son.

The Spanish coaching icon reacted visibly with emotion, wiped tears from his face and at times could hardly look. “Why are you doing this to me?” joked former Munich coach Guardiola, who was repeatedly interrupted during his speech by chants and chants from the fans. “Forget the titles, it’s about the memories,” he later said in the Sky interview. “It was beautiful.”

On the pitch, the 55-year-old thanked the fans and his team and added with a laugh: “The players don’t know it yet. But in the future I will sit in the stands and watch them.” In addition, the main stand of the Etihad Stadium was renamed “The Pep Guardiola Stand” before the final game of the season.

Before Guardiola’s farewell, several professionals who left or have already left the club were honored – former German international Ilkay Gündogan, who has played for Galatasaray Istanbul since 2025, ex-goalkeeper Ederson as well as defender John Stones and long-time playmaker Bernardo Silva. They all won the Champions League as well as several championships and cup competitions under Guardiola.

City were denied a sporting success in Guardiola’s last game, but the game against Aston Villa was meaningless in terms of sport anyway. Despite being in the lead, the Cityzens lost 1:2 (1:0) to the Europa League winners. Guardiola’s team had already lost their chance of winning the championship with two draws in the past few weeks. Arsenal secured the title.