Page 151 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

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PEP GUARDIOLA AND JOSÉ MOURINHO

14 May 1997. Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam. Cup Winners’ Cup final. Barcelona v Paris

Saint-Germain. On one side, Ronaldo, Luís Figo, Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola, coached
by Bobby Robson; on the other, a French team in decline, weakened by the departures of
Djorkaeff, Ginola and Weah, but still featuring the legendary Rai, as well as his compatriot
Leonardo, a future star at AC Milan.

It was a tense affair. Both teams had good spells in the game, and numerous chances. A
single goal proved decisive when, in the last few minutes of the first half, a penalty taken by
Ronaldo – then considered the best player in the world – gave Barcelona the lead.
Robson’s side clung on and when the referee Markus Merk blew the final whistle, the

Catalan players celebrated with more than a hint of relief. The 1996–7 campaign, the first
one without Johan Cruyff at the helm in almost a decade, had been tough.
As the players celebrated, Pep wanted to hug his team-mates – and just about everyone
else connected with the club who was on the pitch. Ivan de la Peña and Guardiola were

both kneeling on the grass, hugging, and as they got to their feet, Pep caught sight of a
member of the club’s staff. Pep waved at him and, with a huge grin on his face, ran towards
him with his arms outstretched.
It was José Mourinho.

Pep Guardiola and José hugged. At that time, the future Real Madrid manager was
working for FC Barcelona as Bobby Robson’s translator and assistant. Mourinho got hold of
Pep and locked him in an embrace, raising him up and down, three times before they both
started jumping up and down again, bouncing around like two elated kids on Christmas

morning.
Two friends and colleagues were rejoicing in the success of a job well done.
It was their first campaign together, and there would be three more before José
departed in 2000. Four seasons during which they got to know each other extremely well.

Years later, in the middle of a series of four tense and ugly Clásicos, Pep recapped that
the pair had once been friends: ‘I only want to remind him that we were together for four
years. He knows me and I know him. I keep that in my mind.’

‘I gave my all, there’s nothing left. That is the fundamental thing. And I need to fill myself again,’ said
Pep at the press conference that confirmed his departure. It was an open admission of his weaknesses,
vulnerability, exposed to the eyes of the world.