The breaking point

As soon as the match ended, Guardiola marched straight toward the referee, stared him down, and was seen mouthing: “Are you joking?” The moment was caught on camera and quickly went viral—an unfiltered display of raw frustration from a coach known for his composure.

Later in the press conference, he tried to downplay the scene, insisting his team “created many chances” and that there were “some positives to take away,” but by then, the images had already gone global. The loss to Al-Hilal wasn’t just a defeat—it was a major blow to one of Europe’s superclubs, and to its high-profile manager.

When frustration turns into finger-pointing

The truth is, blaming the referee won’t explain away a disastrous season. City fell out of the Premier League race early, lost the FA Cup final, crashed out of the Champions League in the Round of 32… and now this.

The defeat to the Saudi side was simply the final blow in a year that Guardiola himself described as exhausting. And while it’s only human to look for a scapegoat, the real problem might lie much closer to home: this City team just didn’t deliver.