Champions League: Pep Guardiola's rebuilding plans hit by Manchester City's European ban
FirstpostManchester City’s two-year ban from European football could undermine manager Pep Guardiola’s attempt to rebuild the team after a disappointing failure to compete with Liverpool in the Premier League title race this season Manchester: Manchester City’s two-year ban from European football could undermine manager Pep Guardiola’s attempt to rebuild the team after a disappointing failure to compete with Liverpool in the Premier League title race this season. One factor that could keep him in Manchester is Guardiola’s good personal relationship with City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, who gave him his chance in management at Barcelona, and with City CEO Ferran Soriano, another ex-Barca man. On top of that, Guardiola may feel a sense of responsibility to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the City chairman and the man behind the club’s financial power through their United Arab Emirates owners. With City currently the only English team that look capable or rivalling Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool, the shape of the Premier League in the coming years may well be decided in a courtroom in Lausanne.