Barcelona legends Figo and Puyol back Pep Guardiola to ‘turn around’ ailing Manchester City
Catalan boss in midst of unprecedented struggle with English Premier League champions City, who have lost eight times in past 11 games
Two of Pep Guardiola’s superstar former Barcelona teammates have backed the embattled Manchester City manager to revitalise his struggling side.
Premier League champions for the past four seasons, City have lost eight of their past 11 matches in all competitions. They have all but disappeared from this term’s title race and are staring at the prospect of an early Uefa Champions League exit as well – only 18 months after winning the competition for the first time in 2023.
But Luis Figo, who played more than 150 games alongside Guardiola for Barcelona, said the Catalan would “turn this situation soon”.
Figo’s view was echoed by Carles Puyol, who played in the same Barcelona side as Guardiola, before winning three La Liga titles, two Uefa Champions Leagues and one Fifa Club World Cup as a backbone of the current City boss’s all-conquering Barca team.
Since being appointed at City in 2016, Guardiola has won 15 major honours, including six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one Club World Cup, alongside that historic Champions League last year.
In November, he signed a new two-year contract, which was broadly expected to arrest a mini-slide of four straight defeats. However, City have subsequently careered off a cliff, losing four, drawing two and winning only one of their following seven games, culminating with Sunday’s desperate 2-1 derby loss at home to Manchester United.
