Page 172 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

He is not happy with the performance. He complains about the lack of intensity, the mistakes in the circulation of the ball,
the poor pressure to get the ball back. Despite the two goals, Barcelona are lucky not to be behind and they are playing with
fire.
Pep prefers to show his disgust when the team are in front, but on this occasion the mistakes would have been pointed
out even if there was a provisional Madrid victory.
In the second half Real Madrid score twice. It proves to be the game in which Mourinho and his players feel the tables
have finally been turned.
And rightly so. It is the visitors who attack, who look after the details, who seem hungrier.

21 April 2012 – Clásico in the League. Camp Nou. Barcelona 1 Real Madrid 2

It had taken eleven Clásicos for José Mourinho to really achieve what he had first set out to do: knock
Guardiola and Barcelona off their perch. The Madrid coach’s side remained very much a ‘Mourinho’
side; but this time they were confident, full of self-belief and ruthless in executing quick transitions,
utilising all their attacking flair to really hurt Barcelona. The result effectively handed the league title
to Real Madrid, with the win giving them a seven-point advantage with only four matches remaining.
It was a hammer blow for Pep and his side, just days before taking on Chelsea in the Champions
League semi-final that would eventually be followed by Pep’s announcement of his departure.

He had insisted before the Clásico that an analysis of the result was simple: lose or draw and Real
Madrid would be league champions. And having been thirteen points behind their rivals, Guardiola
was happy that it all became similar to a one off-final at home.
For all their possession, Barcelona struggled to get the ball to their forwards – and without Villa,
and with Pedro not at his best after struggling for long spells of the campaign with injuries – they
lacked a cutting edge. A similar problem would see them knocked out of the Champions League by

Chelsea and fuelled Pep’s doubts about his ongoing ability to find new solutions to evolving
problems as other teams sought ways to minimise Barcelona’s threat.
In the end, the defeat meant considerably more than just losing a title – its psychological impact
was far-reaching.

In his final season, Pep had remained faithful to the style that had seen his side reach exceptional
heights in the previous three seasons – playing with a false nine, applying defensive pressure high up
the pitch, attacking in orderly fashion so that when the ball was lost they could immediately apply
defensive work, a mobility of players that created absolute order out of apparent disorder and always
with the ball as the undisputed star; building up from the back. In addition – sometimes as a reaction

to opponents’ reluctance to attack and occasionally because of injuries – Pep had tried a three-man
defence, even in big games such as the 2-3 victory against Milan at San Siro or at the Bernabéu in the
league 1-3 victory.
Yet, despite Pep’s best efforts, the fissures in the armour widened, either by team erosion or by the
challenge of constantly evolving and improving opponents who were finding and exploiting

weaknesses. Guardiola and the team suffered.
Early in the season, his old friend Marcelo Bielsa – who had just been appointed coach of Athletic
de Bilbao – provided other teams with a few pointers in a 2-2 draw in San Mamés: which required a
last-gasp Messi goal to salvage a point for Barcelona. Bilbao played a very physical game, with
intensity; their lines compact so that Barcelona’s decisive players couldn’t receive the ball between
the lines. It opened the eyes of other opponents in and beyond La Liga: with Getafe, Espanyol,
Villarreal, Osasuna, Levante and Milan and Chelsea in Champions League all taking a leaf out of

Bielsa’s book and adopting similar strategies.