Dominoes Beginning to Fall in European Soccer

Could Pep Guardiola (right) bring Lionel Messi to Manchester City with him? The two were unstoppable together at Barcelona, and Messi may be ready for a new challenge in a new league.

 By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial)

Ed. Note- Manager changes and upstart clubs in some of Europe's biggest leagues have sent shock waves throughout the soccer world in recent days. So, naturally, our chief soccer guru Justin Sherman has to weigh in. Here's how he sees things shaking out in England, Spain and Italy.

Guardiola makes it official, but will Messi follow?

Manchester City let the most well known secret out of the bag Monday morning, as it became official that Pep Guardiola will be their new manager. The Spaniard will take over in July, supplanting the successful, yet less accomplished, Manuel Pellegrini. The timing of it all is a bit odd, considering both City and Guardiola's current club, Bayern Munich, are still in the Champions League, and could potentially face each other in the later rounds.

Talk about awkward, and what a conflict of interest, whether real or perceived, this would create for Guardiola.

But, for two reasons, this had to happen now.

After Munich, Where Will Star Manager Pep Guardiola Land?

By Justin Sherman (@JShermanOfficial)

After months of speculation regarding Pep Guardiola’s future, following his reluctance to sign a contract extension with German powerhouse Bayern Munich, the inevitable was announced a few weeks back -- Guardiola is gone.

Despite two-and-a-half extremely successful years in Bavaria, that included back-to-back Bundesliga titles and one German cup, the Spaniard has decided to end a marriage that seemed destined to be short lived from the start.

Who knows, maybe things would have been different with a Champions League triumph or two. After all, Guardiola’s appointment was completely centered around conquering Europe, since Bayern had been facing little opposition on the domestic front lately. However, he failed to add to the two Champions League trophies he won while in charge of Barcelona, having reached the semifinals for the past two seasons, before losing in embarrassing fashion.

There have also been disagreements with the Bayern medical staff, which led to a parting of the ways with the highly regarded team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt last season, along with three other members of staff. Despite this, Guardiola will finish the season with Bayern, again leading the Bundesliga table, and again entering the Champions League as a prohibitive favorite.

Guardiola has made his intentions for next season clear: It's a job in the English Premier League, or nothing.

He will go into next summer as quite possibly the most sought after coaching free agent in history, and so let's break down his potential landing spots.