Hopes Pep Guardiola 'could reconcile' with wife after 'losing passion'
Documentary shows Manchester City breaking down to players as his marriage to Cristina Serra ended
Pep Guardiola and his ex-wife Cristina Serra are "leaving the door open" to reconciling after their 2024 split now that the manager is on a break.
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Spanish media have reported that the pair could "resume their relationship" in the future, despite the manager telling his team the pair had lost their passion as their marriage ended in divorce.
Guardiola and Serra married in 2014 after meeting as teenagers and have three children together, Maria, Màrius and Valentina.
But the relationship strained after the gaffer moved the family to Manchester in 2016 when he became City manager and stayed in the city for ten years.
While there was success on the pitch, with City winning six Premier Leagues and one Champions League in his tenure, Serra moved back to their home city of Barcelona in 2019.
Guardiola had been living alone in Manchester until he left his post at the end of the 2025-26 season.
After departing, he turned down the chance to manage Italy.
It was announced in 2025 that they had separated, and Guardiola's feelings on the issue have now come out in Manchester City documentary Obsession, which showed him berating his players for an apparent lack of effort.
“I’m f***ing divorced from the most beautiful woman on your planet... It’s my wife – my ex-wife. I love her unbelievably. But we lost the passion," he told them after a 0-2 Champions League loss to Juventus in December 2024.
"In your life whatever you are going to do, do it with passion. I don’t want good players, I want players with passion.”
Guardiola flew off at his players in another scene shown in the Prime Video fly-on the wall, which has been released this week.
After a 0-2 loss in the Champions League to Bayer Leverkusen, he shouted: "It’s unacceptable this lack of courage, passion and love and desire to win and do it better.
“I work for you. I leave my life, my divorce and my family is away, and everything for all of you. And what do you give back? The f****** performance you have done.
“It’s a disgrace guys. I’m really f****** tired. When I see that I’m exhausted, I’m drained. I want to quit.”
Spanish journalist Lorena Vazquez said that there is hope in private that the pair could reconcile.
“They’re leaving the door open to reconciliation," she wrote. "It could be that one day, when Pep retires and returns to Barcelona, they could resume their relationship.”