Has Pep Guardiola failed at Bayern Munich?

Pressure is mounting on Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola after his side slumped to a fourth successive defeat at the weekend.

Despite coasting to another Bundesliga triumph and only bowing out of the German Cup on penalties to rivals Borussia Dortmund, the 3-0 stuffing at Barcelona in the Champions League last week saw his bold tactics criticised by some – and the subsequent 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg did little to help matters.

Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus slaughtered Guardiola’s management style on Monday, claiming his players were losing belief in the coach.

And the Spaniard was forced to reiterate his commitment to the German giants in a press conference on the same day, with earlier reports in the British media suggesting he could quit the Allianz Arena for Manchester City at the end of the season.

Guardiola has clinched five trophies since his return to management at Bayern in 2013 – two Bundesliga titles, a German Cup, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup – but has seen his side crumble in both campaigns after wrapping up the domestic title early.

After taking over from Jupp Heynckes, who bowed out with a treble, Guardiola’s arrival in Munich might have been expected to usher a dawn of European dominance.

Instead, the club was crushed by Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semi-finals and are on course for a similar hiding from Barcelona.

"Guardiola has already said that their season is over and he's been rotating his team so much that he's unsettling the team.

"His team no longer has the stability they had for over eight months, enchanting football fans up and down Germany.

"It seems the players are losing a bit of belief in the coach, and he hadn't expected that."

Alex Chick (Eurosport UK): Guardiola hasn’t failed - his job is just starting. Bayern are getting older, and Guardiola needs to renovate them in terms of players, strategy and motivation. He is incredibly bold with his tactics, but you need more pragmatism to win the Champions League. His defensive formation at the start of the first leg – going one-on-one on Messi, Suarez and Neymar – was utterly ridiculous and it was a miracle that they weren’t punished.

Sven Busch (Eurosport Germany): Bayern have won the treble only once and if you look around Europe winning the treble is not an accomplishment that comes easily. So on that note – no, he has not failed. Guardiola has won the German title for the second year in a row by a huge margin and made it to the semis of the Champions League again. With all the injury problems in mind Bayern have played a good season, not a great season, but a good one. Now Guardiola can prove that he can also rebuild a team – unless he departs for Man City.

Vincent Bregevin (Eurosport France): Heynckes had an exceptional season with Bayern, winning every title with a very high level of play. It was almost impossible for Guardiola, trying to bring another philosophy of play to Bayern, to achieve the same results in under two years. Considering this, winning the Bundesliga twice and reaching Champions League semi-finals twice is not bad. If someone did something wrong, I would look more at Bayern’s board. Maybe a coach like Guardiola was not the right choice.

Maks Akmantsev (Eurosport Russia): As for the comparison between Heynckes and Guardiola, Pep already has five trophies. The main problem for this team has been injuries. It's not Guardiola fault that players break like cookies during the season. And by the way nothing is over until it's over. Bayern only have to score three at home. Don’t you remember what usually happens in Munich..?

Sven Busch (Eurosport Germany): Even if Bayern are eliminated against Barca, they still want to keep Guardiola. Club boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has stated Guardiola “will never be sacked” and Bayern even want to extend Guardiola’s contract beyond 2016. The coach has said he wants to fulfil it. Talks about a possible extension will be held after the season. The rumours about Man City being close to signing him for next season already don’t seem to concern the club too much.

Bayern Munich attempt the near-impossible and try to overturn a three-goal deficit against Barcelona – all without letting deadly trio Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have a sniff of their goal.

Good luck.