Pep Guardiola Rules Out Barcelona Return & Says 'Stars Aligned' During Nou Camp Tenure
Pep Guardiola has ruled out ever returning to coach Barcelona again, and says that "the stars aligned" during his first stint in charge.
Guardiola won 14 trophies in four seasons with the Blaugrana, including a famous clean sweep in 2009 when Barca won all six trophies available to them.
He has since gone on to success at Bayern Munich and now at Manchester City, who he led to the Premier League title in 2017/18 with a record number of points, wins and goals.
No Barcelona manager since Guardiola has captured the imagination of the fans quite like he did, but the Spaniard said that he would never return to the Nou Camp hotseat.
“As a coach, it’s over [at Barça], because I am not the same, nor do they even look at me in the same way,” he said, quoted by Sport.
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”I was at a fantastic age in which I was taking on the world and we took it on, with some incredible players, a young president [Laporta], Txiki [Begiristain]...it was a generation of brutal players and the best player in the world. The stars aligned."
Guardiola was also asked whether he would fancy a senior position, such as the role of president, when he retires from coaching, but he said that this was unlikely to ever happen.
"President? No, I am a coach and I am good at what I do, you can’t be everything," said Guardiola. "When I stop coaching, you will find me playing golf."
City also won the League Cup this year, taking Guardiola's overall trophy haul to 24 in his managerial career.
