LONDON, Aug 18 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- Pep Guardiola revealed he and his wife “lost the passion” in their marriage as he opened up about personal struggles during his final years at Manchester City, PA Media/dpa reported.
The Spaniard, who stepped down as City manager at the end of last season, had 10 highly successful years at the Etihad Stadium, but the glory came at a cost.
His marriage to Cristina Serra broke down in 2024 and, although he did not discuss the split publicly, he gave an insight into the impact it had on him during an angry dressing-room rant.
The scene, after a 2-0 defeat by Juventus in the Champions League, is shown in a new Amazon Prime documentary, A Beautiful Obsession.
It was City’s seventh loss in 10 games – a run in which they had won just once – and Guardiola was furious.
“Guys I want to confess something, I’m f***ing divorced from the most beautiful woman on your planet,” he shouted.
“It’s my wife, my ex-wife – I love her unbelievably, but we lost the passion. For many reasons, we lost the passion. I love her? Yes, absolutely. She loves me? Yes, but we lost the passion.
“How do you play football, because you are paid? Or because of something inside? Where is the passion?
“In your life, whatever you are going to do, do it with passion. I don’t want any good players. I want players with passion.”
Guardiola reportedly turned down an opportunity to coach the Italy national team over the summer. He suggests in the programme he is in no rush to return to management.
“I don’t even know, even myself, what I am going to do,” he said in an interview. “Honestly, I don’t know. But for sure it will be difficult to come back. That is my feeling today.
“It will be difficult to come back. I need to refresh many things that happened in my personal life and professionally. I need to find myself in different things.
“There is a word in Catalonia – badar. Badar is like this (sitting still). So, do that. That is one of the main targets I want to do.”
-- BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa
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