Page 107 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

something that causes a lot of wires to cross’.
Pep usually bottles everything up inside, holding back his ups and downs, the secrets, the debts, the
promises. Sometimes Estiarte encourages him to let it all out: ‘If you want to cry, cry; punch the wall,
vent your feelings.’ On that day Manel would have liked Pep to have had more time to cry; he

deserved to cry more after so much self-control.
And this, the last trophy of that year, was the one that finally triggered a public outpouring of
emotion. The tension in the Liga, the Clásico, Iniesta’s goal in London, the Champions League final.
The relief, the euphoria of winning everything mixed with the fulfilment of starting a new job and
knowing that in a very short time he had surpassed a level of success previously unimaginable. And
now this title, so undervalued in Europe, yet considered the climax of the season in South America. A
series of images and emotions built up in Pep’s head and exploded. There was suddenly an escape

valve for all the pressure. Spiderman got carried away by his emotions. ‘That’s Pep,’ many said
when they saw him. Or, rather, ‘That, too, is Pep.’
Nobody asked him then about the reasons for his tears although he dedicated the success to Evarist
Murtra, former director of Barcelona, who had been in favour of Pep training the Barça reserve team
instead of working as a coordinator in the youth categories. ‘They’re things that happen,’ he says now.
‘With time, these things, if I carry on working in this field, won’t happen again to me.’ The strong Pep

takes over again.
‘For those who are here now and those who were here last year – thank you for the wonderful past
sixteen months. We have played well many times. We have earned respect and the credit goes to
them. They have been very generous in their effort,’ he announced in the post-match press conference.
Pep Guardiola touched the sky in his first experience as a top-flight coach. They had been
unforgettable months. The long days at the training complex, spending less time with partner Cris,
locked in his office, making decisions, using common sense, surrounding himself with good people,

being demanding of all around him on a daily basis – it had all been worthwhile. The tears humanised
both the character and football.
Guardiola’s Barcelona was now a ‘guarantee of origin’, bearing a hallmark, a trademark that stood
for something the football world had never seen before – a team that knew no limits and that, through
showing faith in their style and personality, had been capable of achieving greatness. The players left
the dressing room to celebrate wearing t-shirts bearing the motto ‘Todo ganado, todo por ganar’

(Everything won, everything to aim for).
Guardiola had replaced Joan Laporta and even Johan Cruyff as leader of the Barcelona religion.
The motto ‘More than a club’ didn’t just make sense from the entity’s point of view, but also the
team’s. Barcelona were now ‘immortals’.
Intent on finding new challenges, on taking the team even higher, Pep renewed his contract two
months later, for another year until 2011. Yet ... ‘One more year and I’m off,’ he thought.

At the beginning of the following season, the village of Santpedor decided to pay tribute to its most
famous son. He was honoured by the village and proclaimed ‘Hijo Predilecto’, the equivalent to
being given the ‘key to the city’. In exchange, Pep had to get up on stage, in that square in which he’d

played as a kid, to say a few words. He had gone back to his square, to his village, to everything that
he had left behind, to the sacrifices of Dolors and Valentí Guardiola.
‘I know that my parents are very happy today, and that makes me very happy. To have been born in
this village, to have played for Barça and all those things ...’