Emotional Guardiola bids final farewell after Watkins’ winner

JAMES GILL/ DANEHOUSE/ GETTY IMAGES

Adios and thanks for the memories Pep Guardiola 

waves goodbye and hugs Bernardo Silva and John Stones

Guardiola lets tears flow as he exits with Silva and Stones

‘Wherever you are as a City fan, come and hug me’

   - Pep Guardiola

Manchester City 1

Semenyo 23

Aston Villa 2

Watkins 47 61

25 May 2026 - The Guardian

Jamie Jackson

High emotion: Pep Guardiola was a picture of a man awed by adoration in a post-game sendoff to his era-defining decade piloting Manchester City.

As the manager stood before the tunnel, the 10 years were played out in a highlights reel on the stadium screen. What followed was a jog through a guard of honour as Valentí, his 95-year-old father, watched on, the official announcing of the new Pep Guardiola Stand, and an address to the crowd teeming love and admiration.

He said: “A minute of silence please. I’m so nervous. Terrified. Why do you love me so much?” When fans offered a rendition of “10 more years”, Guardiola asked: “Why do you do that to me? I never could imagine the amount of love. It’s been incredible, an honour to be your manager. My dad is here in the stands, 95. That [stand] is the huge honour I could receive from this club. My name represents my dad and mum.

“The players don’t know it but I will be there controlling them [from there]. In the next years, you all around the world, you will find me in the streets, and wherever you are as a City fan come and hug me. I will need it. I will say it: ‘It’s been fucking fun.’”

Cue blue fireworks going off and one last offering of the “We’ve Got Guardiola” song and he strode off – and will soon be on a beach somewhere, starting the next chapter of a remarkable life.

The 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa served, too, as a swansong for Bernardo Silva and John Stones. A comical moment came when the stadium announcer said: “Please welcome John Stones” – and they sent the captain’s pooch to walk the guard of honour: Silva’s dog is also called John Stones.

Guardiola said: “Bernardo was emotional today before the game. If you want to cry then cry, laugh then laugh. Emotions – you have to express them. I don’t cry, but when I see somebody else cry, then I cry.”

Watched by players and staff wearing City shirts with “10” and “Guardiola” on them, Silva offered a take on his nine years: “Pep’s the reason we won so much. He was at the wheel, making the decisions and creating this monster of a team - that was not only successful for one or two seasons, but for a very long time. That’s the most difficult thing. He never stopped creating new things, evolving, not allowing oppositions to adapt.

“And on a personal level, he’s my father in football. And I’m really grateful for everything he did for me. And I do believe he’s the greatest manager ever.”

He is certainly in the conversa- tion. One reason may be Guardiola’s embracing of the culture, the Catalan living in town through his tenure.

“The people who live in the countryside are a different case; I live in the city,” Guardiola said. “We like to go to the restaurants and coffee places and cinemas. When I went to [Bayern] Munich and Mexico [to play at Dorados], I tried to understand where I go otherwise I would stay in Barcelona for ever.

“You have to walk and feel the place. Don’t come here and judge, don’t compare. I said to the family: ‘If you don’t like, stay in Barcelona. Some things you like, some not but don’t judge.’”

A record 60,332 crowd, thanks to the extension in the Guardiola Stand arrived in blazing sunshine and temperatures of more than 25C and saw a crying Silva lead the team out. The victory those of a City stripe craved never arrived owing to Villa’s thirst for the same result illustrating why Unai Emery’s team are a force. Phil Foden had a late equaliser chalked off for offside.

For passages, those in light blue had Villa where they wanted them: hemmed in, having to repel constant attacks in the heat. The result: Antoine Semenyo’s opener from a corner. Lamare Bogarde flicked it on – mistakenly – and the Ghanaian hooked home at the far post.

In this 593rd game of Guardiola’s garlanded tenure he prowled the technical area, from where every player he has coached has received tutoring containing tactical advice and, when needed, choice invective. Seconds into the second half there was some of this as Stones inadvertently created Ollie Watkins’s equaliser.

A Leon Bailey corner zipped in from the right was headed by Stones against Watkins’s rear and the striker swivelled and flashed in, then took the ball and lifted it up, to merriment, in a mime of Villa’s Europa League trophy hoist on Wednesday.

City were asleep, moving Guardiola to act: Mateo Kovacic and Rayan Cherki entered for Semenyo and Silva. This drew more tears from City’s No 20, a group hug from teammates, an ovation, and a guard of honour from both teams plus staff, in a heartfelt yet faintly over-thetop move. “No idea,” said Guardiola about why this occurred.

It left City 27 minutes to try to avert defeat, at least. They did not. But yesterday was not about the result. Yesterday was about Guardiola. “I gave it my all,” he said.

***

MARTIN RICKETT/PA

City fans show their appreciation for Pep Guardiola at his last game

Fans pay tribute to the man who took them to a galaxy where their football misery was far, far away

‘Pep will be for ever our boss. He completed our journey from the Peter Swales lows to the ridiculous highs’

25 May 2026 - The Guardian

Will Unwin

‘I’m utterly devastated and have already shed tears,” says Manchester City fan Sophie Hope. There is a feeling of loss around the Etihad Stadium, a bereavement that everyone knew was coming but it does not make it any easier to take. The ownership may disagree but this is the club that Pep Guardiola built over the past 10 years and everyone in attendance against Aston Villa wanted to pay their respects.

This has been a glorious epoch for the club, one that has seen complete and utter misery in modern times. Relegation to the third tier at Stoke, being regularly pummelled by Manchester United and York City away are long forgotten. The transformation was under way before Guardiola arrived a decade ago and everything has been geared towards his demands and needs. Ilkay Gündogan, Ederson and Fernandinho were back as City’s greatest hits were played.

“To say City is part of my DNA is not overstating it,” Hope says. “I feel I need to try and remember that it’s football but it’s also not just football, it’s family, it’s special and Pep has brought such a huge level of enjoyment, excitement, joy and pride to our club.

“I’ve been going to City for 36 years and our next manager will be the first my dad won’t have known, he died in 2021. I have to remind myself of all the good times. The happiness Pep has brought to me, my life, to Manchester will never be replicated or forgotten.”

Guardiola created a magical mystical tour for City, taking the masses on triumphant tours to Real Madrid and a plethora of other of Europe’s most historical venues, leaving having not just won but shown complete dominance. None will be more memorable than Istanbul, City’s first Champions League trophy, won thanks to Rodri on an edgy night against Inter.

“Pep took us into a footballing galaxy that only a handful of teams in world football will ever experience,” Andy Hooper says. “I think back to watching hundreds of games at Maine Road with my grandad. Together we never even reached a major semi-final, but did witness us dropping to League One. He always told me we’d be back one day, and I believed him. Fast forward to the pinnacle of the Pep era: taking my seven-year-old lad to Istanbul to watch us complete the treble.

“Pep’s not just been our manager he’s all of us, you can tell he feels it, he loves the place, sticks up for us against anything thrown at us, he will be for ever our boss. He completed our journey from the Peter Swales lows to the ridiculous highs.”

Success changes lives, even if it is enjoyed vicariously through the local football club. Guardiola has improved the existence of tens of thousands, finding joy in the style and trophy lifts. Everyone has embraced the “Catalan Manc”, enjoying his love of the city, living in the centre, becoming friends with the Gallagher brothers and references to local culture.

“People called Mourinho the special one, but he’s got nothing on Pep,” says Hope. “He clearly loves Manchester, embracing it as his city. That’s how we feel about Pep, he’s our Pep.”

Many of those in love with Guardiola will get to sit in the newly expanded North Stand named in his honour, helping secure a record Etihad Stadium attendance of 60,332, a fitting way to go out. It was unveiled yesterday while a statue will be erected to immortalise the immortal to ensure that some things are eternal.

All the Guardiola collectibles were on sale, from flags to scarves and plenty in between, while one group in the East Stand stood resplendent in T-shirts spelling out “Gracies Pep” to show their appreciation in his native Catalan. A mural depicting Guardiola now sits resplendent on the side of a house opposite the ground but there is no chance of him being forgotten.

Fans will probably be clubbing together to see if they can find the land of the coconuts where Guardiola will be sunning himself over the summer. At the very least, they initiated Guardiola’s new life with the palm trees by bouncing beach balls around the stands.

Guardiola should have brought his own tissues, with eyes watering when he embraced another departing legend, Bernardo Silva, after bringing the captain off. Without a handkerchief in sight, Guardiola was forced to use his Pep-branded T-shirt to wipe away the tears.

The Portuguese was given a standing ovation and guard of honour from the teams and it seemed to finally dawn on Guardiola when he embraced a man who has provided immaculate service for nine seasons. Shortly afterwards John Stones got the same combination of ovation and guard of honour.

“We’ve got Guardiola,” rang out repeatedly as the head coach absorbed it for one final time, weeping. The Blue Moon has reached its highest under Guardiola, and it will rise again at Manchester City but it will never shine as bright. Guardiola finished with: “In the next years, if you see me in the States or Europe or somewhere and you are a Man City fan, come and hug me. I will need it.” So will they.