Pep Guardiola vs Unai Emery: 4 footballers who have played under Premier League's top Spanish managers

David Silva is one of the distinguished players who played for two of the Premier League's best managers
David Silva is one of the distinguished players who played for two of the Premier League's best managers

Current Premier League champions Manchester City hosted sixth-placed Arsenal at the Etihad stadium in their league fixture yesterday, which ended in a victory for the reigning champions.

Both of the clubs are among the biggest clubs in the English top flight, with one club having seen its glory days in the past under legendary manager Arsene Wenger and the other is going through its golden age and is now being managed by the phenomenal Pep Guardiola.

The current Gunners' coach Unai Emery tasted the first defeat of his Premier League career on his debut when his team was beaten by the Sky Blues at the Emirates.

Emery has never won a match against Guardiola and the former Barcelona coach made sure the record stayed that way. We all know Guardiola and Emery are top managers with a great record at their previous clubs and it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any player to be training under any one of these eminent coaches.

Did you know that renowned players like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Mbappe have played under both of them, but only a select few have had the chance to train under them.

So, now that the coaches have met for the second and final time this season, let us take a look at the 4 players who have played for both Guardiola and Emery in their career.



#1 David Villa

David Villa joined Barcelona from fellow LaLiga club Valencia in 2010.
David Villa joined Barcelona from fellow LaLiga club Valencia in 2010.

One of the best strikers to have played for La Furia Roja, David Villa started his career from Sporting de Gijón and made a name for himself with Valencia under Unai Emery.

In Emery's first full season in charge in 2008, the striker was at his prolific best and after finishing as the top scorer at EURO 2008, hit a purple patch in the LaLiga, scoring a career best of 28 goals in just 33 appearances.

The EURO 2008 winner would again cross the 20-goal mark the next season and this earned him a €45 million move to Spanish behemoths Barcelona just before the World Cup kicked off in South Africa in 2010.

The player was at his best with Los Che but won the historic treble with Barca in 2011 under Guardiola and failed to win any trophy in the two seasons he spent playing under Emery.

The 2010 World Cup winner was an integral part of both the manager's teams in the two seasons he was associated with each of them and has now joined former teammate Iniesta at Vissel Kobe in the J1 League.

#2 Juan Bernat

Juan Bernat now plays for PSG, which was managed by Emery up until last season
Juan Bernat now plays for PSG, which was managed by Emery up until last season

Juan Bernat is an academy product of Valencia youth academy and he has the current Arsenal manager Unai Emery to thank for his LaLiga debut in 2011, when the manager played him in the league as an 18-year-old and he was still in contract with the B team.

The left-back or left wing-back made a total of seven appearances for the club under Emery, before the Spaniard moved on to coach Spartak Moscow in 2012. Bernat subsequently established himself as a first team regular at the Mastella Stadium.

His consistent performances attracted attention from Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, who signed him up on a five-year deal in the summer of 2014.

He made his Bundesliga debut under Guardiola, Bayern's then coach, but failed to seal his place in the starting XI. But he still won the German Cup and Bundesliga title under the former Barcelona coach.

He joined PSG last summer and has had a good start to his life at Parc des Princes.

#3 Dani Alves

Dani Alves is one of the most decorated defenders of all time.
Dani Alves is one of the most decorated defenders of all time.

Dani Alves, the Brazilian right-back, is the only player in our list to have never played a game for Valencia under Unai Emery and the only player who first played under Guardiola and then joined up with Emery.

The former Sevilla player joined Barca in 2008 and it is reported that the incoming manager Guardiola wanted him at the club.

In the four years that he played under him, before Guardiola took a one-year sabbatical in 2012, Alves established himself as a top attacking right-back in Europe and also won multiple honors with the club, which included a treble in the 2010-11 season.

The player then moved to Italy with Juventus and came close to his fourth Champions League trophy in 2017, losing out to eventual champions and Barcelona's arch rivals Real Madrid.

He joined PSG in 2017 and played a season under Emery, winning the Ligue 1 in his first season in France. He has been suffering from an injury this season and has played only 7 games so far.

#4 David Silva

David Silva was a Valencia player under Emery just like his Spain teammate David Villa.
David Silva was a Valencia player under Emery just like his Spain teammate David Villa.

David Silva, the player who captains Manchester City in absence of club captain Vincent Kompany, is one of the few players who had played under the Spanish duo of Emery and Guardiola.

He is an academy product of the Valencia academy and was part of their Copa del Rey winning squad in 2008, which included stars like Juan Mata and Villa.

Emery took over the reigns of the club in the following season and Silva was one of the first names on the team sheet for the former PSG manager for the two seasons he spent under him.

He moved to Manchester in 2010 with the Cityzens and has become one of the best midfielders of the league over the years and has won three Premier League titles, including one under Guardiola last season.

He remains one of the best players to have played under the two managers, who have very different managing styles.

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