Five yellows in 14 games - how fiery Pep Guardiola is driving Man City

CommentsSportSimon Bajkowski Chief Manchester City Writer06:00, 11 Mar 2026What is Pep Guardiola trying to achieve on the touchline in going out of his way to irk the officials? And what does it mean for Manchester City for both this season and beyond?

In the middle of an excellent performance from his players in the FA Cup at Newcastle, Guardiola appeared to have one of his strangest days in the office. He may never be a man to hide his frustrations, yet he went above and beyond his normal behaviour with referees before and after he picked up a yellow card.

Whether it was clenching his fists as he squared up to the fourth official, shouting how sorry he was (for his team being so good) when Omar Marmoush smashed in City's third or having to be dragged away from the referee and linesman by his security guard at full-time, this was the most volatile Guardiola has been all season. A yellow has earned him a two-game ban after his sixth of the season, yet it could easily have been red.

There were specific circumstances to partly explain the level of rage. Guardiola is still angry about three decisions made by referee Sam Barrott and his team in the 2-1 Premier League defeat at St James' Park in November - a result that, reversed, would have the title race in City's destiny.

He was annoyed before the game began that Barrott had been handed their FA Cup fifth round clash, and an early challenge on Tijjani Reijnders in the penalty box after he had shot at goal brought back visions of the penalty that Phil Foden should have had for Fabian Schar clattering him.

But if it felt personal on Saturday, the yellow card was hardly unusual for the City boss. Not only was it his sixth of the season, this was his fifth in his last 14 games in the Premier League and FA Cup - a disciplinary record that would raise eyebrows if it was a player never mind somebody who doesn't step foot on the pitch.

Is this Guardiola teeing off and settling scores because he knows he is leaving at the end of the season so feels he can do what he wants? Or is that feeling down to the fact he is in his tenth year in English football and has won so much that he no longer needs to tow any lines?

Possibly both, and as he returns to the Bernabeu again he will relish the opportunity to cause more damage in an arena where he is loathed by the 80,000 supporters who angrily whistle and jeer every mention of his name and picture on the big screens. Ten years in Manchester may have taken him out of the sting of a Madrid media who broadcast what time he went to bed before the December game, yet he remains a Barcelona boy through and through.

Whether he sees out his contract or, as a lot of people expect, leaves the Etihad in 2026, Guardiola has to be seeing this trip as potentially his last to the Bernabeu. He will have had the same feeling for the match three months ago, and while he was calm rather than angry in his press conference he still managed to twist the knife in.

With an idiom that can only have come from being delivered in his native tongue, Guardiola's advice for Xabi Alonso was to 'p*** with his own p****'. Not only was it crude, it was pointed; invited to contribute to the pressure on a man he loves from their time at Bayern together, the Catalan instead made clear how tough the environment is for any coach at Real to battle against the power elsewhere in the club.

He will have enjoyed that even if he took no pleasure in Alonso's exit shortly after, and even more important was being able to see his young team win. The message afterwards was that they have to play better to make it through the knockouts, a message that is only spoken when there is confidence the players can rise to the challenge.

That mood was such a stark contrast to February 2025, when City had thrown away a 2-1 lead in the final minutes of the home leg of their play-off with Madrid and then surrendered a few minutes into the game at the Bernabeu. As Guardiola talked through their exit, he looked resigned as he said that previous exits had been much harder to take because they had been so much worse this time.

Above all else, Guardiola is a winner who hates losing. Even worse than losing is not competing - and that is what it felt like in the middle of their issues last season when nothing that the great manager tried could seemingly turn them back into champions.

It couldn't happen for the team but it has happened at the club. After three transfer windows that have seen considerable change to the squad and starting XI, they have a decent chance of success in all four competitions that they entered at the beginning of the campaign.

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That gives Guardiola energy, and he does everything he can on the touchline to pass that onto his players. Perhaps the added tilt at referees is a reflection of the fact that this City team aren't quite there yet, not favourites for any competition even if they are strong contenders in all of them.

"It's a pity that the Premier League is not in our hands - that is a big drop against Nottingham [Forest]," he said on Saturday after beating Newcastle. "But don't think much, recover, go to Madrid, make a good selection and hopefully we can behave - win or lose - in the way we are.

"That's always been my focus; when we play on the biggest stages against the big teams it's not about winning or losing but being who we are as individuals and as a team. After that, you can win or lose but that is the main target I have in my mind that I say all the time to my players."

Guardiola could to with toning down the touchline anger towards officials - it isn't a good look and has cost him a seat in the dugout for the FA Cup quarter final against Liverpool as well as the league game at West Ham. But when he sees how unstoppable his team can be again, it is difficult for the City manager to contain his emotions.

The more they can give, the less he will need to.