Comparing Guardiola’s trophy haul at Man City to Ferguson’s at Man Utd

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Right: Sir Alex Ferguson with the Premier League trophy, Manchester, Old Trafford, 22 May 2011. Left: Pep Guardiola after Manchester City won the 2021-22 Premier League, Manchester, Etihad, 22 May 2022.

Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson have been compared at length ever since the Spanish manager came to prominence at Barcelona, but how do their trophy cabinets at the two Manchester clubs compare?

Ferguson is considered by many to be the greatest manager of all time and his success with United returned the Old Trafford club to the top of the English and European game.

He joined the club from Aberdeen in 1986 and retired at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, concluding a 27-year stint in charge.

Guardiola, however, became a top-flight manager in 2008 and is largely accepted as the greatest coach of his generation. The Catalan tactician joined City in 2016 and has now been at the club for seven seasons. In that time he’s given the club unprecedented levels of domestic dominance, with only Ferguson’s achievements comparable.

“I know the feeling and it’s true, we have to win in Europe to be considered something memorable,” Guardiola said following Manchester City’s 2022-23 title.

“But always it’s unfair, I don’t have the feeling just in case we are not able to win it in terms of that [to be considered one of the best teams], because the Premier League makes sense too.

“Of course as a club you get to another level, that’s for sure, but we have to admit it, we have to win in Europe and the Champions League to be considered one of the best teams like Roy Keane’s United was or Liverpool.

“But also it’s unfair to say if we don’t win it, Premier League five wins in six years does not make sense. Of course it makes sense and of course it’s important.

“It’s like now in the Premier League in the next six years, you have to win it five times. It’s crazy.”

Guardiola’s success domestically has been immensely impressive. City won a clean sweep of all domestic trophies in 2019, becoming the only English team to ever do so. This season they’ve become the first team to win a ‘three-peat’ of three successive titles since Ferguson’s United, and after beating United in the FA Cup final they’re now just one game away from emulating their city rivals’ legendary achievement of winning the treble in 1998-99.

We’ve taken a look at how Guardiola’s trophy cabinet at City compares to Ferguson’s at United. Admittedly, Guardiola is nowhere near Ferguson’s total of 27 years in Manchester so we’ve also looked at their trophies per season record.

Alex Ferguson at Man Utd

Domestic

– League titles: 13 (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)

– FA Cups: 5 (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004)

– League Cups: 4 (1992, 2006, 2009, 2010)

– Charity/Community Shields: 10 (1990 shared, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)

European/World

– Champions League: 2 (1999, 2008)

– European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1 (1991)

– European Super Cup: 1 (1991)

– Intercontinental Cup: 1 (1999)

– FIFA Club World Cup: 1 (2008)

Total: 38
Trophies per season: 1.4

Pep Guardiola at Man City

Domestic

– League titles: 5 (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

– FA Cups: 2 (2019, 2023)

– League Cups: 4 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)

– Community Shields: 2 (2018, 2019)

European/World

– Champions League: 1 (2023)

Total: 14
Trophies per season: 2.00 

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Manchester City Manchester United Pep Guardiola Premier League Sir Alex Ferguson