Pep Guardiola

Josep (Pep) Maria Guardiola y Sala is a Spanish football coach who previously played as a midfielder. The head coach of the English club Manchester City.

Born on January 18, 1971 in Sanpedor, Catalonia.

He is often considered one of the greatest coaches of all time. He holds the record for the number of consecutive matches won in La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League.

The most decorated coach in the history of Barcelona and Manchester City. The only coach in history to win the treble twice.

As a player, Guardiola is a six—time champion of Spain, two-time winner of the Spanish Cup, four-time winner of the Spanish Super Cup, winner of the European Champions Cup, winner of the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. He became an Olympic champion with the national team. Height 180 cm, 53 years old now.

Unrealistic performance does not prevent Pep from remaining an unpopular coach. He dresses stylishly, knows several languages, jokes at press conferences, and speaks well. His interests are not limited to his profession. Pepa is fascinated by books, good music, delicious food (for example, pickled salmon), fine wines and communication with interesting people. He speaks freely on political topics and openly supports the Catalan independence movement.

Guardiola is known for his thoughtful attitude to work: when he became the coach of Bayern Munich, he studied German for 5 hours a day. When Pep worked at the Dorados club, he supported the lowest-paid employees of the club with money, giving them bonuses from personal income. Besides football, Guardiola is very fond of golf and hockey. Josep is a big fan of Coldplay. He often uses the songs of the band in training. In 2001, the athlete released his autobiography "My people, my football". He co-wrote the book with Michele Rico and Luis Martin. In 2023, Guardiola played himself in the popular TV series Ted Lasso.

Josep Guardiola is legally married to Cristina Serra.

The coach met his wife at a clothing store. It is known that at the time of their first meeting, the future football star was barely eighteen years old.

Three children were born in this union: Marie (2000), Marius (2003) and Valentina (2008).

Josep has two sisters, Olga and Francesca, as well as a younger brother, Pere, who is the agent of Uruguay striker Luis Suarez.