Manchester City were eliminated once again from the Champions League after looking to be in a comfortable position against Real Madrid, and once again, supporters were left wondering what the club did to deserve such bad luck.
Well, according to Yaya Toure’s agent, Pep Guardiola will never win the Champions League due to Pep Guardiola’s mistreatment of Yaya Toure, stating that a number of African Shamans will be willing City to lose in this competition forevermore.
Up until now, Toure’s agent has been proven right, and with that in mind, we’re going to look at five famous footballing curses that have plagued certain teams and players over the years.
Yaya Toure’s Pep Guardiola curse
As we’ve already alluded to, Yaya Toure’s agent stated that Guardiola will not win another Champions League due to how he treated Toure.
“Pep turned all Africa against himself. I’m sure that many African shamans in the future will not allow Guardiola to win the Champions League. This will be for Guardiola an African curse. Life will show whether I am right or not,” He said.
Guardiola has lost in finals and semi-finals since this vow was made, and, sadly for City, he remains without a Champions League title since joining the Manchester club.
Bayer Neverkusen
A curse that has its own Wikipedia page, Bayer Leverkusen may well be the biggest club in Europe to never win a league title.
Despite having some of the most talented German players in history in their side over the years, Leverkusen have never actually won a Bundesliga title, while they’ve only ever won one German Cup.
Of course, Leverkusen’s name lends itself well for the nickname ‘Neverkusen’ and with Bayern Munich dominating Germany for the past decade, the German club may never break this duck.
Bela Guttmann’s Benfica curse
Benfica were one of Europe’s true powerhouses in the 1960s, but after winning their second European Cup in a row in 1962, they made a rather strange decision.
Indeed, their then-manager Bela Guttmann left the club after asking for a payrise in lieu of a second European triumph, but after being declined a wage increase, the gaffer shouted the infamous words “Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champions!”
Five European Cup finals later, Benfica still haven’t triumphed in UEFA’s Premier competition since Gutmann’s departure, and if this curse is to ring true, Benfica may have to wait another 40 years to win their third European Cup.
Liverpool’s Premier League hoodoo
Liverpool went 30 years without a league title from 1990 to 2020, and they may have Bruce Grobbelaar to thank for ending their drought.
The Zimbabwean had claimed for years that a witch doctor had cursed Liverpool and the only way to end this barren run without a title was to put urine on each goalpost at Anfield.
Well, according to the former goalkeeper, he did just that in 2019, and alas, six months later Liverpool were Premier League champions.
Aaron Ramsey’s death curse
A rather more morbid curse. This phenomenon dates all the way back to the early 2010s and continues to this day.
Ramsey has an uncanny knack of scoring just hours before the death of a famous celebrity is announced, with the likes of Steve Jobs, Robin Williams, David Bowie, Alan Rickman and even as recently as last month Eastenders legend June Brown, all passing away shortly after Ramsey found the back of the net, be that for Arsenal, Wales, Juventus or Rangers.
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