Perhaps the only thing that brings Pep Guardiola more joy than the beautiful game is his loving family – demonstrated when his eldest daughter paid tribute to him after his historic Premier League title win

Pep Guadiola embracing his eldest daughter after winning a sixth Premier League title (Image: maria.guardiola/Instagram)

Pep Guardiola has won an unprecedented fourth Premier League title in a row – much to the joy of his model daughter.

After his side beat West Ham 3-1 at the Etihad, Pep was embraced by his coaching staff and players before microphones were pushed in his face for an instant reaction.

But once things calmed down, he was joined on the pitch by his eldest daughter, Maria Guardiola, who hugged her triumphant father.

This was picked up by Manchester City fans online with one fan account, with 239,000 followers on X, posting the pictures. One person simply replied “wow” while another added: “Makes sense why he always points to the stands after a goal.”

Maria also shared her delight on Instagram where she wrote about the team being “history makers” before thanking her father for “letting us live these surreal experiences”.

Who is Maria Guardiola?

Maria is 23 and works as a model after graduating in fashion and design. The stunning brunette has 886,000 followers on Instagram where she regularly shares glimpses of her glamorous jetset lifestyle.

The fashion icon has embraced Manchester City ever since her father joined the club and she is often seen celebrating at finals – although the influencer is believed to reside in London.

But the football fan was born in Spain on December 28, 2000, when her father was the captain of his beloved Barcelona.

The father and daughter have always been close and earlier this year she wrote: “Happy birthday @pepteam. So thankful, I couldn’t have been more lucky. Forever winning at life because of my family.”

Pep rarely opens up about his personal life but he did so after Maria, along with her mum and sister, were at Manchester Arena for the Ariana Grande concert that ended in tragedy. Terrorist Salman Abedi blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack, killing 22 men, women and children.

The City manager’s family were safe but he told BBC 5 Live: “When the attack happened, I was at home with my son, and my wife and daughters were there - they were at the arena.

“She called me but the line broke immediately. She told me ‘something happened and we are running but I don’t know what happened’ and the line broke.

“We tried to call her again and it didn’t work - we went to the arena and after five or six minutes she rang again and said: ‘We are out, we’re coming back home.’

“At the end we were lucky. Many people suffered, and we were lucky. Life is like this. We were in a better position than many unfortunate ones.”

Family

Pep is married to Cristina Guardiola who he met in a shop before they dated for 20 years - and they got married in 2014 in Matadepera.

They have three children - daughters Maria and Valentina - along with a son called Marius. Cristina runs her own fashion company and she is said to share Pep’s passions for fashion, poetry and photography.

Dele Alli

Maria became headline news back in 2021 when she was snapped snogging then Spurs midfielder Dele Alli on a rooftop bar.

One person present told The Sun: “Dele and Maria didn’t seem to have a care in the world. They didn’t mind who saw them as they smooched in front of the DJ booth.

“It was packed with hundreds of revellers watching on. All the tables had been booked and were completely full. Strangers were wandering past and Dele and Maria didn’t blink an eye. They were in a group together and it was very cosy. They looked so cute and could have been honeymooners.”

They were spotted leaving a restaurant together months later but neither have ever publicly commented on whether they were in a relationship.

Dele is now dating model Cindy Kimberley and earlier this year the pair signalled their love with matching tattoos.

The model was rumoured to be dating Dele Alli a few years back

Fans have joked in the past about Messi not being Pep's 'greatest creation'

Maria’s relationship status is unknown but in February she was spotted outside Chiltern Firehouse in London where singer Conor Maynard wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. The model, cigarette in hand, kissed him back.

Palestine

After Maria posted celebratory pictures from the Etihad Stadium with a keffiyeh (the symbol of struggle for a Palestinian state) wrapped around her bag, many of her fans thanked her support.

One person wrote: “Maria, you are truly a great girl and a wonderful girl from a nice family. You care about what is happening in Palestine in terms of occupation and aggression against children, women and men. We are very grateful to you for supporting this cause.”

Another said she was the “best supporter of Palestine” while a third said: “As a Palestinian, I am here to thank you for your support. Thank you for speaking up about us and bringing the Palestinian keffiyeh with you. Keep it up.”

Maria has been a big advocate for Palestine in recent years and last October she took to the streets of London where she posted a posted on Instagram with the words: “Bombing babies is not self defence.”