Marco Silva vs. Guardiola: Why He’d Rather Not Discuss It

It’s an absolutely devastating record. Pep Guardiola and Marco Silva have already faced each other a total of 17 times and in each case the Spanish coach has emerged victorious. The Portuguese never once achieved at least a draw, and this is the only case of a coach with a 100% winning record against another… with at least 12 games played.

This Wednesday, this happened again. Despite Guardiola’s high praise for Marco Silva, stating that the former Sporting man was “destined to be one of the best coaches in the world in the coming years”, Manchester City overpowered Fulham at the Etihad, winning 3-0, a result achieved in the first half thanks to goals from Semenyo (24′), O’Reilly (30′) and Haaland (39′).

That’s why Marco Silva actually suffers 17 defeats in 17 games. It all started in 2015, after leaving Portugal for Olympiakos, meeting Bayern twice in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League: they lost 0-3 in Greece and 0-4 in Germany. The following season, in the Premier League, he took on Hull City and was also defeated (1-3). In 2017/18, they lost twice to Watford, being beaten 0-6 at home, in addition to 1-3 at the Etihad.

At Everton they lost three times (1-3, 0-2 and 1-3) and the situation did not change at Fulham. They started by losing in the fourth round of the FA Cup (4-1), followed by two 1-2 defeats on their return to the Premier League. They were beaten again in 2023/24 and 2024/25 (0-4 and 1-5), coming close to achieving a positive result this season, in December, but lost 4-5 at home. It’s fair to say that Marco Silva shouldn’t even want to hear the name Pep Guardiola.