Pep Guardiola's odds have shortened on a sensational Barcelona return following Manchester City's surprise Champions League exit on Saturday evening.
An embarrassing 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich puts Quique Setien's job in serious doubt, with reports suggesting the club have already decided the former Real Betis boss will not continue in the role.
Off-field turmoil, ageing players and an expensively assembled squad, it is a big job to return the Catalan giants to Europe's top table again.
Former player Xavi was the initial front-runner, while former Spurs and Espanyol boss Mauricio Pochettino has also been touted as a possible replacement.
But, just 24 hours after Barca's Bayern bashing, Guardiola's City side were eliminated at the same stage by tournament minnows Lyon.
The 49-year-old, who left in 2012, has since seen his odds cut dramatically, from as big as 20/1 in some places to now as short as 5/2 with Sky Bet on Sunday morning.
He is entering the final year of his reported £20million-a-year contract and the chance to return to his home city could appeal, although boardroom unrest puts doubt over whether the club legend would return at this time.
Guardiola, according to The Sun, said late in 2019: "I will return to Barcelona sooner or later. But as president, forget about it.
"To be president, you have to know [what you're doing] and be prepared - to have knowledge that I don't have.
"I'm trying to be a good coach - that hasn't gone too badly in this decade. I will return to Barcelona to live, sooner or later."
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City were stunned 3-1 in their quarter final in Lisbon after they imploded late on thanks to Raheem Sterling’s astonishing miss.
Kevin De Bruyne cancelled out Maxwel Cornet’s opener before Moussa Dembele made it 2-1 after a VAR check on a possible foul on Aymeric Laporte with 11 minutes left.
Sterling’s shocking miss – when he fired over an open goal from five yards – sparked a collapse and 59 seconds later an error from Ederson gifted Dembele a second with three minutes left.
City have now been knocked in the quarter-finals for three straight seasons.
Guardiola told BT Sport: “One day we will break this gap.
“The second half was OK, I had a feeling we were better but you have to be perfect in these competitions.
“I don’t want to talk about the circumstances (of Dembele’s first goal), it looks like I’m complaining or finding excuses. We are out. We did a lot of good things and in the end it was not enough.
“We made mistakes in both boxes at key moments and that’s why we are out.
“We scored a magnificent goal but unfortunately we missed another one. You have to be perfect, you cannot make mistakes.”
Guardiola is yet to get past the final eight in four attempts with City having also lost in the last 16 in 2016-17.
Odds correct as of 1140 BST on 16/08/20
