How Pep Guardiola battled secret heartache of ‘split from wife’ while suffering worst spell of managerial career
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THE worst spell of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career has played out in front of the world. But in private, the Manchester City manager has also been suffering the heartbreak of the breakdown of his 30-year relationship with wife Cristina Serra. And reports from Spain that the long-rumoured split finally happened last month are a reminder that one of the most relentlessly successful coaches of all time is also a human being with the same problems as anyone else.
![[Pep Guardiola looking dejected at a soccer match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/josep-pep-guardiola-manager-manchester-963673845_2f1eef.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
Guardiola’s erratic behaviour, tetchiness and introspection during City’s wretched run have been put down to him struggling to cope with the unfamiliar feeling of losing. The City boss became so agitated as his side left a 3-0 lead slip against Feyenoord that he left scratch marks on his face.
![[Erling Haaland of Manchester City reacts to an offside call.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/erling-haaland-manchester-city-looks-959889103.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Now it appears there was a lot more going on beneath the surface. And some of Guardiola’s brutally honest reflections on City’s struggles could apply equally to his off-field issues. Last month he said: “I’m the boss, I’m the manager and I’m not good enough.
![[Pep Guardiola and Cristina Serra at the Best FIFA Football Awards.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/b0463aaa-ee1a-43e5-8d87-2da75566562d.jpg?strip=all&w=777)
“I have to find solutions and so far I haven’t. That’s the reality.”. At more than eight seasons, Guardiola’s spell at City is the longest of his managerial career. But he and Cristina have been an item for more than 30 years, after meeting as teenagers in 1994 and marrying in 2014.
![[Pep Guardiola and Cristina Serra at the FIFA Football Awards.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pep-guardiola-cristina-serra-arriving-963550531.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
