Pep Guardiola's defeat in the National Super Cup
The defeat to Arsenal on August 6 was Guardiola's third consecutive defeat in the English Super Cup matches. Before that, he and Man City lost to Leicester City 0-1 in 2021 and Liverpool 1-3 in 2022. In the five English Super Cup contests, Guardiola only won twice: 2-0 against Chelsea in 2018 and 5-4 in the series. penalty shootout against Liverpool 2019.
While managing Bayern, Guardiola even lost all three matches for the German Super Cup, against Dortmund in 2013, 2014 and Wolfsburg in 2015. Including all three titles won with Barca, the Spaniard won five national Super Cups. after 11 visits. This is the arena that has witnessed the most defeats of Guardiola in title matches.
In return, Guardiola owns a massive collection of 11 national championships, six National Cups, four League Cups, three Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups. In the near future, he and his students will compete for the European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
In Guardiola's string of defeats in the English Super Cup, the only positive was the harbinger of how to return. After two defeats to Leicester and Liverpool two years ago, Man City both successfully defended the Premier League. In the 2022-2023 season, they even won the treble.
Last year, Erling Haaland also disappointed in the English Super Cup match. The Norwegian striker was empty, while Darwin Nunez scored to bring a 3-1 victory for Liverpool. However, in the following year, Haaland responded with 52 goals in six 53 games, including a record 36 goals in 35 Premier League matches.
In the match against Arsenal over the weekend, Haaland almost disappeared. In 64 minutes of play, the Premier League's top scorer only touched the ball 13 times and failed to launch a single shot. It was the man who replaced him, Cole Palmer, who opened the scoring for Man City in the 77th minute.
However, in the 11th minute, Man City was equalized by Arsenal. From the kick of the substitute Leandro Trossard, the ball hit Manuel Akanji and changed direction, making goalkeeper Stefan Ortega unable to react. In the penalty shootout that followed, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri missed, while Martin Odegaard, Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Fabio Vieira all succeeded for Arsenal, giving Arsenal a 4-1 victory.
This is the 17th time Arsenal has won the English Super Cup, and is only four short of Man Utd's record. Coach Mikel Arteta won the second English Super Cup of his career, after winning also in the penalty shootout against Liverpool in 2020.
