Olic brands Guardiola a failure

Former Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic has branded Pep Guardiola’s tenure at the Allianz Arena “a failure” after they exited the Champions League at the semi-final stage for a third successive season.

Trailing 1-0 from their first leg with Atletico Madrid, Bayern started well on Tuesday and went on to record a 2-1 victory, but Antoine Griezmann’s away goal saw the Spaniards progress.

Bayern have dominated the Bundesliga under ex-Barcelona boss Guardiola – who will join Manchester City in 2016-17 – and could still win the double this season, but their lack of progress in Europe has led to Olic to offer a damning indictment of his time in charge.

“Guardiola was knocked out of three successive Champions League semis and by Bayern’s high standards that’s a failure,” Olic told Sportske Novosti. 

“Maybe people at Bayern will now say he won a haul of domestic trophies, but given the strength of the club’s roster, that’s an accomplishment they should take for granted.

“Yes, Atletico play destructive football but they knew exactly what they wanted and in this chess game Simeone made all the right moves.

“Guardiola stuck to his philosophy and it failed to land a European title, although he had to deal with the burden of expectation from the start. 

“He came after Heynckes who won it all, hence Guardiola could only emulate his success. But he didn’t and won’t be remembered.”

Prior to Guardiola’s arrival Bayern had lifted the Champions League for a fifth time, Jupp Heynckes finishing his time at the club on a high at Wembley.