Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola‘s Champions League nightmare against Spanish teams continued on Wednesday night, losing 1-0 against Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.
This campaign is Guardiola’s third and final in Bavaria before he departs to take over at Manchester City in the summer, and after being knocked out at this stage by Real Madrid and Barcelona in the last two years, history began to repeat itself in the first leg against Atleti.
With the return game to come on Tuesday at the Allianz Arena, all is not lost, but he is in danger of being labelled a failure if he cannot bring European glory to Bayern, having dominated domestically throughout his tenure.
Defeat to Real Madrid would have hurt, but the loss to Barcelona, with whom he had four historic years, winning two Champions League titles, will have driven him on this term.If he is to silence the critics at Bayern, he must overcome Atletico in Germany, having once again suffered a disappointing return to his homeland.