Pep Confidential (22 page)

A euphoric Ribéry runs straight to his coach to celebrate. Guardiola grabs him by the neck and the two bump heads. Ribéry raises his left fist as if dedicating his second goal in six days to his boss. Having been voted the best European player of 2013, he was in Monaco last night and unable to train with the team. Pep insisted that he be there to receive his much-merited award. He has set himself the task of trying to convince Ribéry that he has huge potential as a goal-scorer and the player is responding magnificently.

After the equaliser Bayern control the rhythm of the game. Guardiola decides that a few more adjustments might just win them the game. The day before, he and Javi Martínez had decided that the player should get an anti-inflammatory injection so that he would be fit to play. Now, 10 minutes after the break, Pep takes Rafinha off and brings on Martínez in an attempt to stretch the game – more attacking depth. He hopes Javi can change things by getting up and down the middle. At first Bayern suffer because, with Lahm giving over the
pivote
position to Javi, the German must do a double-shift at right-back and on the right of midfield. And the manager makes another change – Götze for Müller. But Chelsea go up a gear, making three good chances. Neuer needs to excel and Chelsea hit the bar. Kroos and Ribéry both have scoring chances but what scars the closing moments is Ramires’ violent foul on Götze, which sees him sent off with five minutes of normal time left.

Götze is left with a serious ankle injury and will end up in plaster next week.

In the break before extra time Guardiola tells his players he wants aggression, particularly when they are defending. He doesn’t want Chelsea getting another goal and wants to see his men maintaining the pressure.

The total opposite happens. Ninety seconds into extra time David Luiz frees the fabulous Hazard, who is wide on the left. He runs at the penalty area, easily passing Lahm and then Boateng, who barely tries to tackle, meekly allowing him past. He shoots and Neuer fumbles badly. With 10 men, Mourinho’s team is back in front and now the clock is in their favour.

The Bayern supporters react with greater speed than the players themselves and their impassioned chanting echoes around the stadium. They are losing with just a few minutes to go but the fans of the European champions are holding out for the equaliser. The Munich support unfurl their flags, roar their lungs out and spur their players on to an epic comeback. Inspired by the fervour and excitement in the stands, Guardiola’s men produce an avalanche of shots on Petr Čech’s goal. By now Kroos is back at
pivote
, Lahm is running the whole of the right touchline. Javi Martínez is alternating between second striker and centre-forward. Time and again Bayern make scoring chances, time and again they are thwarted by the formidable Czech goalkeeper. Shaqiri, Mandžukić, and Javi all fail to score. Shaqiri misses for a second time, as do Götze and Ribéry and then, at the end of 120 minutes of play, Mandžukić too fails to hit the mark. Bayern have had 38 shots, have taken 19 corners and hit three times as many accurate passes as Chelsea but, with 60 seconds left, they are losing the final.

German teams have a reputation for fighting until the last second. They will only accept defeat once they’re in the shower. And in this final Pep’s men more than live up to this reputation. With nine seconds left Alaba crosses, Mandžukić lays it off, the ball bounces off Dante and drops to the left leg of the injured Javi Martínez – who scores. The combined efforts of an Austrian, a Croat, a Brazilian and a Spaniard have the German supporters leaping to their feet in an explosion of joy that thunders across the Prague night.

Mourinho turns to Guardiola’s bench and clasps his hands in a gesture that says, ‘pure, dumb luck!’ And he’s right. There are four principal protagonists in football: the ball, space, time and luck. Of these, Chelsea have certainly been the master of space today, but Pep’s team have had the ball, the right timing and now, at last, Lady Luck has intervened on their behalf. Of course, there’s still the penalty shoot-out…

In the middle of all the euphoria Pep steps up to the plate, emotional but icily calm. He calls his people together in one big huddle. Everyone is there: doctors, physios, assistant coaches, players, substitutes and even the injured men, like Schweinsteiger. This is Pep at his brilliant best. The guy who rises to the big occasions and dazzles his men. Just as everyone is expecting him to mobilise his players with a call to arms of epic proportions, Pep tells them a simple story. Relaxed and smiling, he pays no heed to the thousands of frenzied supporters around them. Apparently unaffected by the tension, he issues no battle cry, opting instead for an anecdote. About water polo.

‘Lads, I don’t know how to take penalties myself. I’ve never taken one in my life. But here’s the best penalty taker in the whole world.’ And he points to a figure half hidden, right at the back of the huddle.

‘I’m talking about Manel [Estiarte]. He was the best water polo player in the world. He took penalties better than anyone. Hundreds of them. Water polo is like football. Only four out of every five penalty kicks hit the target, but Manel put them all away! He is the world expert on penalties.’

Pep hasn’t just managed to get the player’s attention. He has completely changed the expressions on their faces. They had been waiting for war cries and motivational oratory, an adrenalin boost. What they receive, standing here in the midst of the clamouring, heaving mass of humanity that rocks the stadium, is a simple tale. Van Buyten and Starke stand just behind Pep in their tracksuits, hugging each other; Doctor Müller-Wohlfhart is beside them. Kroos, Lahm and Ribéry are right at the front. Alaba is leaning his elbow on Müller, also wearing a tracksuit, like Robben. Then there’s a second circle: Javi Martínez, Shaqiri, Dante, Boateng and Mandžukić; the assistant coaches, Domènec Torrent and Hermann Gerland; Kirchhoff, the substitute; physio Gianni Bianchi; fitness coaches Lorenzo Buenaventura and Andreas Kornmayer; Götze; Claudio Pizarro; Rafinha and Contento. Matthias Sammer and Bastian Schweinsteiger are slightly separated from the main group and Manuel Neuer isn’t here. He’s off getting Toni Tapalovic’s advice about the Chelsea penalty takers. Estiarte, too, has stepped back a few metres.

The players are smiling. Silent but relaxed. They’re enjoying the tone of this team talk. ‘I’ve learned two things from Manel and his penalties, so listen up. These are the only two things you need to do now. Firstly, make up your mind immediately as to where you’re going to put the ball and stick with that decision. I’ll say it again. Decide now, and don’t change your mind no matter what happens. Secondly, keep telling yourselves that you’re going to score. Repeat it a thousand times and don’t stop until after you’ve taken the penalty. Don’t worry and don’t change your minds.’

‘What a team talk. Incredible!’ Matthias Sammer says later.

But Pep hasn’t finished. He gives them his advice and then says: ‘Lads, there’s no list. You can choose whether or not to take one. You choose. You’re all going to score anyway, so you decide who’s taking them. Who’s up for it?’

Alaba is the first to step forward, Kroos lifts his left hand next, followed quickly by Lahm. Pep gives his captain one of his little taps on the cheek. Next, Ribéry adds his name to the list and the coach slaps him encouragingly on the chest. It’s Shaqiri’s turn after that and he’s rewarded with a ‘Bravo, Shaq!’ The players have come up with the list themselves, but what about the order they’ll take them in?

‘You sort that out. Take them in any order you want. Whatever you’re comfortable with. It doesn’t matter anyway, because they’re all going in.’

They decide to take them in the same order they volunteered. The referee indicates that it’s time and they all turn away. Pep grabs Ribéry and Lahm, stopping the whole group in their tracks.

‘Just one last thing. Don’t forget. You’ve decided where you’re putting the ball. Go and do it. And from now until you shoot keep telling yourself, ‘It’s going in’. With every step you take, say it, ‘goal, goal, goal…”

Of the seven players who had practised on Monday scoring 42 out of 42, only Kroos and Shaqiri are penalty takers today. Müller and Robben have both been substituted. Pizarro started on the substitutes’ bench and of course Schweinsteiger is injured. Of the players who had not taken part in the practice session, Alaba, Lahm and Ribéry have been happy to volunteer. All five score. Neuer saves Chelsea’s fifth penalty, taken by Romelu Lukaku, and Bayern have won the title that has so far eluded them. Pep has his first trophy with Bayern and his third European Super Cup.

Voted man of the match, Franck Ribéry dedicates the honour to his boss. ‘I know how much this means to him, his first title. I also know about his old rivalry with Mourinho.’

The Portuguese coach has left the pitch without congratulating Guardiola, in stark contrast to the obvious warmth between the two teams.

An hour later, in a corner of the press room in Prague’s Eden Stadion, Guardiola and Estiarte chat to a couple of Catalan journalists, Isaac Lluch, of
Ara
and Ramon Besa of
El País
. Pep is absolutely radiant. His eyes are shining with happiness, but above all there is a sense of enormous relief.

‘The team needed this win. If we hadn’t won, I don’t know how we would have moved forward.’

PART THREE

2013: A PRODIGIOUS YEAR

‘The most dangerous man is the man who is afraid.’
LUDWIG BÖRNE

27

‘RIGHT NOW I’M NOT THE BEST IN THE WORLD.’

Munich, September 5, 2013

GUARDIOLA’S ACHILLES’ HEEL is his anxiety. He carries with him a deep fear of coming under attack, which was probably born during his playing career. He was physically fragile and lacked athleticism – rather on the puny side. Working alone to cover an enormous section of the pitch, he was an easy and exposed target for the opposition. If they tackled Pep and succeeded in neutralising him, the whole structure of Barça’s game would collapse. He carried this fear throughout his whole playing career, but was also smart enough to develop the ideal antidote. Pep found that he could cope with his fear by playing with a touch of audacity.

Pep has developed enormous courage precisely because of this fear. During his time as Barcelona coach he explained a hundred times that he preferred to face teams who play tight around their goal area, who create a kind of bunker. ‘In those games the ball tends to stay far from my goal and that feels much less threatening.’ In other words, those teams scare him less.

He compensates for his anxiety with a level of audacity that can sometimes become excessive. He has developed the antibodies to deal with his fear and now, as a coach, has a capacity for extraordinary courage and single-minded determination. He doesn’t like being attacked, so he goes on the attack first. It’s his way of correcting this weakness. As we’ve already seen in the German and European Super Cups, such boldness can at times tip over into recklessness. Putting Thomas Müller in midfield is a case in point.

On the other hand, one of Guardiola’s main virtues is his prescience, a counterbalance for all the fear he experiences. Let’s look, for example, at what he said on May 28, 2011, at the end of the Champions League final at Wembley in which Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1. That day his players had given one of their greatest exhibitions of
Team Pep
football. In the midst of all the euphoria following this extraordinary victory his mind turned to the rumours circulating about him having only one year left at Barcelona (in fact this turned out to be true). Alex Ferguson had just advised him publicly not to leave the Catalan club because, he argued, he would never have it so good anywhere else. It was then that Guardiola showed his strong, intuitive side. ‘I don’t know what will happen if I go to another club. I’ll have to look at the kind of players they have and perhaps will struggle to find the players of the same calibre as Barça’s. It will definitely be a big test but I believe that you have to keep looking for personal challenges. There will come a time when it will be good for me to go to another club and try to play as well as possible with a different set of players. Any coach depends on his players and the way they play. It will be a big challenge.’

Two years later his predictions came true. Why had he really left Barça? Because the number of problems had finally outstripped the level of his enthusiasm. President Rosell’s cold indifference, combined with the fact that both Pep and his players were worn out, weighed more heavily than his desire to keep on winning.

Why did he sign for Bayern? Hoeness and Rummenigge inspired in him a confidence that he found irresistible. But the overwhelming reason was his desire to play good football with a different type of player.

After the final of the European Super Cup in Prague on August 30, Guardiola was asked if he felt like the best coach in the world. ‘Perhaps I did for a while at Barça, but that’s no longer the case. Right now I’m not the best in the world. Maybe that’s what I need to do – get back to showing people what I’m really capable of. Particularly my players.’

For the time being those players are happy with his leadership and seem to trust him. Ribéry’s reaction after his goal in Prague and the collective boost of confidence delivered by his talk before the penalties provide more than enough evidence of that. Captain Lahm uses the verb
lernen
(to learn) a lot. He employs it almost every time he speaks, giving the very definite impression that he, too, feels that the team is currently on a learning curve as they try to master the new language. Ribéry explains it like this: ‘Pep is completely different to Heynckes, but we are really happy with him.’

‘The players are my principal concern,’ Guardiola says time and time again. Naturally demonstrative, he likes to give his players little slaps on the cheeks and smacks or kicks up the behind. It’s just the way he is and, although it can come as a bit of a surprise initially, his players tend to get used to it eventually. When he’s worried he scratches his head and if he has an idea to convey, throws his arms about like a lunatic. Body language is one more part of this new way of communicating. And both players and coach are going to have to get used to each other.