Pep Guardiola and Yaya Toure: Is Man City boss 'cursed' in Champions League?

Pep Guardiola’s poor fortune in the latter stages of the Champions League over the last decade continued on Wednesday night – with some fans on social media suggesting that the Spaniard may be cursed when it comes to Europe’s premier club competition.

Guardiola hasn’t lifted the Champions League trophy since his 2011 triumph at Barcelona and saw his hopes of winning this season’s competition with Manchester City dashed in incredible fashion by Real Madrid.

With 89 minutes on the clock in the semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, City looked to have a place in the final against Liverpool on May 28 firmly in the grasp.

Leading 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate, Real needed to find two goals in short order simply to send the tie into extra-time. For a team that hadn’t mustered a single shot on target up until that point, the odds were very much against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

However, substitute Rodrygo Goes grabbed a late brace to send the home faithful into a frenzy and level the aggregate score at 5-5 at the end of normal time.

Karim Benzema then completed the most unlikely of comebacks for the La Liga giants in the early stages of extra-time, when he smashed home a penalty-kick that he had himself won.

The City camp – Guardiola included – looked completely shell-shocked at the end of the match, struggling to come to terms with the dramatic turn of events that had denied them a place in the final.

Over the last 11 years, Guardiola has frequently seen his sides capitulate during key knockout matches in the Champions League. Whether at City, Bayern Munich or Barcelona, Pep just doesn’t seem to be able to catch a break in European competition.

In the wake of yet another Champions League setback for Guardiola,