Can Enzo Maresca deliver what Pep couldn't in the Champions League?

The Catalan won it all with City, including six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three FA Cups and one Champions League.

Despite their domestic dominance, that one European title in 10 years at the Etihad does stand out, and it highlights how difficult it is to achieve European dominance.

For new boss Enzo Maresca, it is going to be nearly impossible to replicate his predecessor's domestic exploits, but one area he could surpass him is in Europe. 

Manchester City's Champions League record under Pep Guardiola

Pep arrived at the Etihad in July 2016 with lofty expectations and two Champions League trophies to his name, having lifted both of them with Barcelona.

Before his arrival, the club had won two Premier League titles since the takeover and the former Bayern Munich boss was expected to add to that and challenge in Europe.

The Catalan did not win a single trophy in his first season as he found his feet, but once he lifted the league title aloft at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, they arrived like London buses.

However, despite their domestic dominance, the Champions League was the one title that eluded Pep, with three successive quarter-final exits before City eventually reached the final in 2021.

Those defeats came against Liverpool, Tottenham and Lyon, games that they should have been winning, but it highlighted how tough the competition was to navigate in the latter stages.

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Despite Man City's defeat to Chelsea in the 2021 final, it did feel like a matter of when, and it came two years later when Rodri's goal was enough to defeat Inter Milan in a cagey encounter in Istanbul.

Unlike in the Premier League, Pep was unable to follow up that title and failed to advance past the quarter-final in each of his last three attempts.

So, can Maresca do any better?

Enzo Maresca's trophy cabinet is already growing

Maresca does not have the back catalogue that Guardiola boasts, with stints at Leicester City and Chelsea before he arrived at the Etihad this summer, but he does already have a couple of honours to his name.

Having led Leicester City to the Championship title, the Italian guided Chelsea to the Europa Conference League trophy in 2025, but as the strongest team in the competition, that was no masterstroke.

However, the same summer, the 46-year-old rather unexpectedly guided the Blues to the FIFA Club World Cup title, battering PSG 3-0 in the final.

Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Man City head into this season's Champions League as outsiders, and that is something this fine squad should channel, as on their day they can overcome any team in the world.

Having failed to lift the Premier League trophy in the last two campaigns, the club once again have the underdog label, and that has hardly been the case over the last decade.

The reality is that this City squad is absolutely stacked, and while they are not defensively perfect, they possess a glut of attacking talent that threatens to outscore any side.

Despite City's dominance under Pep, the club have been unable to match Manchester United and Liverpool's exploits in Europe, and if they are to strengthen their standing in the record books, they need to win more Champions League trophies.

While it is highly unlikely that Maresca will be given a decade at the club to match Pep's achievements, he only needs a couple to beat his European record.

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