Pep Genius! Guardiola’s Role in Arsenal’s Real Madrid Win Revealed

Arsenal knocked out Real Madrid from the UEFA Champions League after a 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu and a 5-2 aggregate win.

In a victory that meant a lot for English football, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s role in Arsenal’s triumph over Real Madrid has now been revealed.

Having stunned Carlo Ancelotti’s defending champions with a 3-0 win last week at the Emirates, Arsenal were heavy favourites heading into the Champions League quarter-final second leg — but Real’s history of unlikely comebacks meant the tie was far from over.

Madrid had knocked City out in a convincing playoff round display, which included a late comeback at the Etihad Stadium, but Arsenal ensured there was no way back for the Spanish giants this time.

Following the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed he called his old friend Guardiola ahead of the second leg to thank him for his role in shaping his career.

“I called him this morning because I am here thanks to him,” Arteta said. “As a player and a coach, he has been an inspiration to me. I had four amazing years with him, and I will always be grateful to him.”

Arsenal’s win over Madrid earns them a further £12.88m in Champions League prize money, bringing their total performance-related earnings to £68.5m, including a £16m participation fee.

They will earn a further £15.89m by reaching the final, while all clubs are also entitled to a share of £705m based on European and worldwide broadcast markets, calculated using club and country coefficients for performance over the last ten years.

City earned £26.5m from their disappointing Champions League campaign, before learning how much they could add from the broadcast pot.