Toure featured fairly regularly during Guardiola's first season in Manchester, but was a bit-part player during 2017/18 and was allowed to leave the club at the end of the season, which apparently angered the player's agent and - if Seluk is to be believed - African shamans.
Whatever the reason, Guardiola and City will have to wait another year for a shot at Champions League glory.Manchester City fans are probably wondering if their team is cursed in the Champions League.
City snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their semi-final second leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday night, falling 3-1 at the Bernabeu to exit the competition with a 6-5 aggregate defeat.
After Riyad Mahrez's goal put Pep Guardiola's side 1-0 up on the night and 5-3 up in the tie, they appeared to be on their way to the final.
However, Madrid replacement Rodrygo scored two thrilling late goals to send the semi-final to extra time, where Karim Benzema won the triumph for the home side from the penalty spot.Guardiola hasn't won the Champions League since he was at Barcelona 11 years ago. Despite the fact that since his time at the Nou Camp, he has coached Germany's biggest club, Bayern Munich, and now England's richest club, Manchester United.
Is it because Guardiola's tactics in important European games are over-analyzed? Dimitriy Seluk, the agent of his former player Yaya Toure, has a different explanation: The curse of Africa.
Alamy Seluk's comments from 2018 have resurfaced, in which he claimed Catalan coach Pep Guardiola enraged "all Africa" by benching the Ivory Coast international during his final year at City.He [Guardiola] turned the entire continent against himself, and many African fans shunned Manchester City "Seluk stated.
"And I'm confident that numerous African shamans will prevent Guardiola from winning the Champions League in the future.
"This will be an African curse for Guardiola. Life will demonstrate whether or not I am correct."
There's a lot there to unpack. Shamans, who claim to have the ability to call forth good or evil spirits, don't appear to be prepared to deny Guardiola great domestic success wherever he goes. Seluk, on the other hand, is adamant.
"Guardiola's decision to end Yaya's career at Manchester City was not only a mistake, but a crime," he continued.
"But, Pep, the boomerang will come back.
"You'll still be able to observe what African shamans are. Remember
Despite their success together, Toure and Guardiola had a tense relationship at times. In 2009, the Ivorian featured in Pep's first Champions League final victory, a 2-0 victory over Manchester United, as a central defender.
However, he left Barca in 2010 to join Man City, and he did not have warm recollections of his former boss.
While at Man City, Toure became a City legend for his offensive midfield displays, but the pair crossed paths again in 2016 when Guardiola joined the club.
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