Pep Guardiola Bizarrely ‘Sings’ at Barcelona’s 125th Anniversary Gala

A clip of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola ‘singing’ for Barcelona’s 125th anniversary has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) with him sporting his scratches from his current employer’s lack of recent victories.

Barcelona stars – of past and present – rubbed shoulders to celebrate the club’s long and storied history, spanning 125 years, with the likes of Frank Rijkaard, Hristo Stoichkov, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri all present to watch the ceremony.

Thanks to his pressing commitments in east Manchester, Guardiola – who has recently penned a two-year contract extension – was unable to attend the fancy gala but ensured to show his gratitude to a club he represented on both sides of the touchline.

The now-53-year-old emerged from the fabled La Masia academy in 1991 and, throughout his playing career, dedicated 10 years of his life, equating to 384 appearances in all competitions, to the fulcrum of their midfield. He plundered 11 goals and 56 assists.

Pre-recorded, a video of the former Barca chief boss was shown to those in attendance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu but rather than just say a few words about the illustrious club, Guardiola – recognised as one of the greatest football managers of all time – burst out into song.

Albeit lip-synched, he mimicked along to ‘Aniversari’ by Catalan band Manel and was met with a chorus of cheers and applause after his one-minute tribute came to an end. According to Mail Online, the song is among the tactician’s personal favourites.

Fans on X were less enthusiastic about Guardiola’s performance. One fan said: “All those dropped points made him switch careers”, while another questioned how Barcelona’s higher-ups convinced the out-of-sorts boss to produce the footage: “How did they even convince him to do this?!”.

Santdepor-born Guardiola took charge of La Blaugrana between 2008 and 2012, overseeing 247 games in that period. He amassed a points per match rate of 2.36 while working with some of the best players to ever play – Lionel Messi included.

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The Catalan leaving Man City this season no longer feels impossible after a poor run of form.

In that time, he added a plethora of silverware to his CV, including two Champions League crowns, a trio of La Liga titles and the same number of Spanish Super Cup triumphs – just to name a few.

On a personal note, he was named the world’s best club coach on two occasions (2008 and 2010). At the time of writing, however, the Catalan is uncharacteristically on the worst managerial run of his career.

Boasting zero wins in six outings after their most recent capitulation, a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League, the club now travel to Anfield, the home of table-topping Liverpool, on the weekend in search of all three points.