Pep Guardiola chose Edgeley Park over the Parc des Princes last week, opting to watch Stockport County face Port Vale in the English Football League rather than tune into the Champions League semi-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich — a match that ended 5-4 in a contest widely described as one of the competition’s most entertaining recent fixtures.
Photographs of the Manchester City head coach in the stands at Stockport’s ground circulated rapidly across social media, prompting widespread curiosity about his reasoning. Guardiola addressed the matter on Friday during a press conference ahead of City’s Premier League fixture against Everton, delivering his explanation with the sardonic wit his press conferences have become known for.
“Yesterday I checked the fixture list, saw PSG versus Bayern Munich and thought, ‘What a disastrous match,'” Guardiola said. “The managers aren’t good, really rubbish players. I love English football, so I chose Stockport.”
The remarks were clearly made in jest. Guardiola himself managed Bayern Munich between 2013 and 2016, winning the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons at the club. His comments about the quality of the managers involved — without naming them — were delivered with a wry smile, according to reports from those present at the briefing.
The PSG versus Bayern encounter, played at the Parc des Princes, produced nine goals across 90 minutes and drew considerable attention from across the footballing world. The result represented a significant moment in this season’s Champions League, a competition from which Guardiola’s own side had already been eliminated.
Manchester City were knocked out of the 2025-26 Champions League in the quarter-final stage by Real Madrid, ending their involvement in European competition for the season. That exit has sharpened the club’s focus on domestic honours, where the picture remains highly competitive.
City are currently locked in a tight Premier League title race with Arsenal, and the outcome of that contest is yet to be determined. The club have already secured silverware this season, having won the League Cup, and are scheduled to face Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 16 — a fixture that represents another opportunity for Guardiola’s squad to add to their trophy haul before the campaign concludes.
Guardiola’s decision to attend a lower-division match rather than follow one of the season’s headline European ties reflects a pattern the Spaniard has demonstrated throughout his managerial career — a stated affinity for English football at all levels, and a willingness to use press conference opportunities to deflect attention through humour. Whether his presence at Stockport carried any additional professional purpose was not confirmed.
