Pep Guardiola closes on Manchester United record with relentless Man City

Pep Guardiola is closing in on a Manchester United record in the Champions League with Manchester City.

Sir Alex Ferguson currently boasts the longest unbeaten run in the competition, with his United side going 25 games without defeat between 2007 and 2009 in a period when they won one trophy and reached consecutive finals. Ferguson won the Champions League twice during his reign at Old Trafford.

Guardiola landed his first with City in Istanbul last year and they have now gone 20 games without defeat since their heartbreaking loss to Real Madrid in 2022. Tuesday's win over Copenhagen moved City ahead of Ottmar Hitzfeld's Bayern Munich and Louis van Gaal's Ajax (both 19 games unbeaten) for their longest streak and they now have the chance of matching Ferguson's United if they reach the final and beating them if they go on to win it.

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City bosses want to achieve a similar level of dominance in Europe to what they have achieved domestically, and Guardiola spoke this week about how he feels the club have changed during his eight years at the Etihad. Winning consecutive Champions Leagues may still be far more unlikely than likely, but City no longer have any fear in a competition that haunted them for so long, and have shown they can blow away European giants in the knockout rounds.

Guardiola may prefer to have his career judged on league titles, where there is less luck involved than in cup competitions. He has a remarkable success rate of 11 leagues in 15 years as a coach, with the potential to up his rate to 75 per cent if City are able to get the better of Liverpool and Arsenal this