Pep Guardiola Rejects Claims That Bayern Munich Tenure Was a Failure Due to Lack of UCL Success

Pep Guardiola has refuted the statement that his tenure at Bayern Munich was a failure because he did not win the UEFA Champions League. 

The Manchester City boss spent three seasons at the Allianz Arena, claiming the Bundesliga title in each of his terms at the helm as well as the DFB Pokal in 2014 and 2016. 

However, the Catalonian's men were unable to overcome Real Madrid (2014), Barcelona (2015) and Atletico Madrid (2016) in the semi-finals of three successive European Cup campaigns, leaving the German superpower without continental success since Jupp Heynckes departed in 2013. 

But despite the lack of Champions League silverware, Guardiola insisted to Catalunya Radio, as quoted by Bundesliga.com, that his tenure in Munich was full of positives. 

"My time in Munich won't be judged on not having won the Champions League," he said. "Winning it is hard, and defeats are part and parcel of the competition. 

"Football always gives you another chance, and people are surprised by the difficulty of the Champions League: with Bayern, I got to three semi-finals and was knocked out in each.

"Bayern have won successive league titles – and the same goes for Juventus – so perhaps for them, the Champions League seems more important.

During his first season at Manchester City, Guardiola ended the term trophy-less; however, added the Carabao Cup and the Premier League title to his ever-expanding collection during the recently concluded campaign by taking his total football philosophy and evolving it to conquer England's top-flight.

"I'm happy that at Bayern and at City they've been able to play as we wanted," Guardiola added. "We won a lot, but I'm happier with how we played."