Page 165 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

eighteen days.
In that incredibly high-pressure period of less than three weeks, Pep had to establish a routine, a
way of doing things that allowed him and the players to connect and disconnect before and after
matches.

He kept his preparation rituals the same, the timetables, training – but he tried to sell each Clásico
to the players as a different movie. He demanded a victory in the league, gave a day off after the cup
final and, after the blow to the morale to his players as a consequence of the defeat, he needed a new
strategy for the Champions League.
He spent every waking hour in his office dedicated to thinking and preparing for these games.
Estiarte would tell him, ‘Let’s go, we’re not eating here today, we’ll go and eat elsewhere so we
don’t spend the whole day here.’ But when they were eating out, if a meal normally took an hour and a

half, after forty minutes his friend could see Pep’s mind was on other things: looking at him maybe,
but not listening. So Manel would give up, get the bill and go back to the training ground.
On the eve of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, José Mourinho unwittingly handed
Pep the psychological edge he had been looking for.
On that afternoon, Mourinho burst into the press room of Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training
ground like a whirlwind.

His face told the story, beaming from ear to ear – here was a man who had just masterminded
victory over his club’s arch rivals, he had put one over Guardiola and he was about to lead Real
Madrid into a Champions League semi-final for the first time in five years.
Mourinho delivered his press conference referring to his Catalan opposition as ‘Barça’ for the first
time since taking over at Madrid – usually it was just ‘them’. Another first: he also referred directly
to Guardiola, singling him out, calling him Pep.
And then he let loose. He was asked about the appointment of experienced German official

Wolfgang Stark as the referee for the Champions League semi-final. Previously, before Stark was
named, Guardiola said Mourinho would be ‘super happy’ if Portugal’s Pedro Proença was chosen.
When Mourinho responded, he revealed his most provocative side: ‘Besides the naming of the
referee and the pressure that they exerted so Proença was not chosen, the most important thing is that
we are in a new cycle. Until now there were two groups of coaches. One very, very small group of
coaches that don’t speak about refs and then a big group of coaches, of which I am part, who criticise

the refs when they have made mistakes – people like me who don’t control their frustration but also
who are happy to value a great job from a ref.’
And then he turned on Guardiola.
‘And now, with Pep’s statement the other day, we are entering a new era with a third group, which
for the moment includes only him, who criticise the correct decision of the referee. This is something
I have never seen in the world of football.’
Mourinho was referring to a goal by Barcelona’s Pedro Rodríguez that was disallowed for offside

in the Spanish Cup final against Real on 20 April, and which video replays showed was a correct
decision by the referee.
‘In his first season [Guardiola] lived the scandal of Stamford Bridge [in the semi-final], last year
he played against a ten-man Inter. Now he is not happy with refs getting it right. I am not asking the
referee to help my team. If the referee is good, everyone will be happy – except Guardiola. He wants
them to get it wrong.’

The Champions League Clásico had just kicked off.