The Bavarian giants dominated domestically during Guardiola’s time in charge, winning the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons at the helm.

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But, having guided Barcelona to two Champions League titles with the famed ’tiki-taka’ philosophy, he was unable to replicate that European success at the Allianz Arena, exiting the competition at the semi-final stage in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

That failure has seen him judged somewhat harshly compared to his predecessor Jupp Heynckes, who steered Bayern to continental glory prior to his departure at the end of the 2012-13 campaign. 

“Pep has got a very special way in which he wants his team to play,” Breitner said at a club event on Thursday.

“This works at Barcelona, this worked here at Bayern, [but] it doesn’t work that [well] at Manchester where he is now. 

“But his high-speed football and all the things he wanted to or did [perfect] here, or wanted to develop further when he took over from Jupp Heynckes, didn’t mean that we won everything while he was here.”

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It remains to be seen if Carlo Ancelotti, a three-time Champions League-winning coach, can fare better than Guardiola.

The Italian’s Bayern side registered a crushing 5-1 win over Arsenal in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday, while Guardiola and City are due to take on in-form Monaco on Tuesday.