In 2012, typical of everything, Guardiola left Barça and sought refuge in New York, where he took a sabbatical before returning to the bench. His subsequent adventures, at Bayern Munich and Manchester City, have been successful in terms of games and titles. But not a complete success. In the same way that the legend of Guardiola became very big in Barcelona for having won two Champions Leagues, the highest European club title has been resisted in both Munich and Manchester. A kind of outstanding debt, to himself and to the fans.
It is enough to leaf through the English newspapers to realize that, for many, until he is European champion he will not have finished demonstrating his talent. As if the 33 titles he has won during the 15 seasons he has coached were not enough endorsement. “At Bayern he found himself in a similar situation. He went from fascination to disappointment. And he left without having led the team to any Champions League final. For many it was unfinished business,” remembers journalist Isaac Lluch, correspondent in Germany and who followed very closely the step of Mr Pepas Martí Perarnau named it in the book where he glosses over his time in Munich.
Guardiola, victim of expectations
It was probably because of expectations. “A German newspaper went so far as to publish that he was a coach who walked on water,” recalls Lluch. Guardiola actually landed at Bayern in 2013, but legend has it that the Bavarian leaders decided to sign him four years earlier, after going down 4-0 at Camp Nou in the quarter-finals of the 2008-2009 Champions League. In Munich, in a team that has “a very big superiority complex”, the Bundesliga is taken for granted and the real goal is Europe. It didn’t help that he revolutionized the team’s classic playing model, or that he tried to win the hearts of the fans and the German-speaking environment from day one. “He was never at an excellent level and that really wore him down in press conferences.” Some journalists even criticized him for not having enough vocabulary. Seven titles in three seasons were not enough because they fell three years in the European semi-finals against Madrid, Barça and Atlético de Madrid. “His work was not understood,” sums up Lluch.
A German newspaper went so far as to publish that he was a coach who walked on water”
Isaac Lluch Journalist
With the stage in Bavarian lands closed, Guardiola sought refuge in Manchester, in a club where two old acquaintances from his time at Barça already worked, Ferran Soriano as CEO and Txiki Begiristain as technical secretary. “But Guardiola, being Guardiola, always has pressure,” sums up Pol Ballús, a journalist who has experienced first-hand from Manchester the coach’s evolution on the sky blue bench. “He has gone through all the phases. It got to the point where many were asking themselves, ‘And this guy, what does he have to teach us?'” recalls Lu Martín, a journalist and friend of Guardiola who has also experienced the coach’s career for many years since Manchester. As if that wasn’t enough, the first year did not win a title. “Then he won everything in the competitions in England, and he came to have absolute respect. But now he is missing the Champions League and he is in the phase of ‘If he doesn’t win it, we will kill him'”.
City and the requirement to win the first Champions League of the blue-sky club
A key point is that City have never raised theeared. “In the internal spheres of the club they believe that to be truly great you have to win it. It gives you a different plus and prestige,” Ballús points out. And, of course, they put this responsibility on Guardiola, who already reached the final in 2021, but lost it to Chelsea. Anyway, Ballús and Martín agree that life in England is much more comfortable for Guardiola than life in Bavaria or Catalonia. “Perhaps there are some style purists who criticize him, but it is the place where he is most respected. Even among United fans. His figure is seen with devotion,” points out Martín. In Manchester there are fewer journalists in the press rooms, less specialist media and no midnight sports talk shows. “There is less media noise,” points out Ballús. This makes day-to-day life more peaceful: “The media pressure cannot be compared to that of Barcelona”.
The football culture, which is based on expectations, is changing, of course. They rarely mention a player by his nationality or his former club, but instead name him by price. “This has happened with the striker who cost 50 million” or “This has happened with the defender for whom they paid 40”. Guardiola is, for one sector, “the two-time winner of the Champions League”. Who knows if from June 10th he will have won three…
