He spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, forming a part of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team that won the club's first European Cup in 1992, and four successive Spanish league titles from 1991 to 1994.

In his first season, Guardiola led Barcelona to the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League, becoming the youngest manager to win the latter competition.

[11] As Phil Ball writes in Morbo, In his first week at the club, Johan Cruyff turned up unannounced at the Mini Estadi, a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by Barcelona B.

Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young lad playing on the right side of midfield.

A number of future Barcelona midfielders, including Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas, have hailed Guardiola as their role model and hero.

[16] After leaving Barcelona in 2001 at age 30, Guardiola joined Serie A side Brescia as Andrea Pirlo's replacement in the deep-lying playmaker role, where he played alongside Roberto Baggio under manager Carlo Mazzone.

[23] Guardiola suffered a career-threatening injury in 1998 which kept him out of the year's World Cup, but later played at Euro 2000, where Spain reached another quarter-final, this time losing to France by the same margin of 2–1.

[34] Despite his lack of notable pace, dribbling ability, aerial prowess, or strong physical or athletic attributes, Guardiola was highly regarded throughout his career for his vision, close control, passing range, positional sense, and calm composure on the ball, as well as his speed of thought,[29][35] which enabled him to retain possession under pressure and either set the tempo of his team's play in midfield with quick and intricate short first-time exchanges,[29][36][37] or switch the play or create chances with longer passes.

[29][37][38][39][40] His role has also been likened to that of a metodista ("centre-half", in Italian football jargon), due to his ability to dictate play in midfield as well as assist his team defensively.

[41] Guardiola was capable of being an offensive threat, due to his ability to make attacking runs[42] or strike accurately from distance; he was also effective at creating chances or shooting on goal from set-pieces.

[29] Guardiola's playing style, which relied on creativity, technique and ball movement, rather than physicality and pace, inspired several future diminutive Spanish playmaking midfielders, such as Xavi,[45][46] Andrés Iniesta,[47] and Cesc Fàbregas, with the latter describing him as his "idol".

[37] Miguel Val of Marca considered Guardiola to be one of the greatest Spanish players of all time, describing him as the "brains of Barcelona's Dream Team under Johan Cruyff" in 2020.

[citation needed] In interviews with the press, Guardiola stressed a harder work ethic than before, but also a more personal approach during training and a closer relationship with his players.

Guardiola's first competitive game as manager was in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, in which Barcelona comfortably beat Polish club Wisła Kraków 4–0 in the first leg at home.

Promoted Numancia also defeated Barcelona in the opening matchday of the 2008–09 La Liga,[58] but the team then went on an undefeated streak for over 20 matches to move to the top of the league.

Barcelona maintained their spot atop La Liga's table, securing their first league title since 2006 when rivals Real Madrid lost at Villarreal on 16 May 2009.

On 25 September 2009, Barcelona gave him his 50th professional victory, away against Málaga and on 19 December, they were crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions for the first time in their history.

On 21 April, Guardiola conceded the league title to leaders Real Madrid after they beat Barcelona 2–1 and extended their lead in the table to seven points with four matches remaining.

[117] Guardiola brought in several significant players in the summer, including midfielders İlkay Gündoğan from Borussia Dortmund and Nolito from Celta Vigo, winger Leroy Sané from Schalke 04 and defender John Stones from Everton.

Guardiola identified the defensive areas which required improvement for Manchester City in the summer transfer window to challenge for the league title, particularly in the goalkeeper and full-back positions.

Wing-backs Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker were also signed, while dispensing of all the previous senior full-backs at the club in Aleksandar Kolarov, Gaël Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta.

[137][138][139] Guardiola made two major acquisitions during the summer transfer window of 2019 in defender João Cancelo from Juventus for £27.4m plus Danilo and midfielder Rodri from Atlético Madrid for a fee of £62.8 million, a club record.

[149] Guardiola won his third Premier League title on 11 May after Manchester United's home defeat to Leicester City,[150] two weeks after beating Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 in the 2021 EFL Cup final to claim that trophy for the fourth successive time.

[162] On 16 August 2023, Guardiola won a record-equaling fourth UEFA Super Cup title, also becoming the first-ever manager to win the trophy with three different clubs, as the Mancunian side defeated Sevilla 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw.

[175][176][177] To avoid getting caught by long-range passing from City's defensive-third, the opposition defence would cautiously drop deep despite the forward line's high-press, hence creating space in the middle of the pitch.

[180] After learning the style analogous with Total Football under Johan Cruyff,[181][182] Guardiola was particularly influenced by his time as a player in Mexico under his friend and manager at Dorados, Juan Manuel Lillo.

[185] In one of his editorials, he called Zinedine Zidane France's best defender, pointing out how recycling possession in itself is a key defensive tactic,[184] something that Guardiola teams would later become synonymous with.

[209][210][211] Guardiola also used inverted full-backs who moved inside to occupy central areas of the pitch,[212][213] while he also played in a more physical and direct style than in previous seasons, utilising Erling Haaland as a traditional striker.

[214] Considered by pundits to be one of the greatest managers of all time,[215][216] Guardiola is often linked with the successes of the Spanish and German national teams in 2010s, both of whom had many first-team players that were coached by him.

[234] He had an account open in the principality of Andorra until 2012, exploiting the tax amnesty that Mariano Rajoy's conservative government had enacted in Spain to regularise his fiscal situation.