Pep Guardiola's finest hour as Manchester City manager. Photo: Getty Images/Jan Kruger. sorcerer to turn Real Madrid, the noble silk stocking of the Champions League, into a pitiful collection of rag dolls. It takes a choreographer so skillful, so obsessive, so utterly impossible that even Kevin de Bruyne feels obligated to tell him to shut up, to spank 14-time winners with such vigor that there is hardly even a moment of danger. Need a virtuoso named Pep Guardiola who is now racing towards a unique feat by winning a treble with two different teams.
All 12 years of waiting for Guardiola to win a third European crown, the nitpick was that he couldn't have done it without Lionel Messi. This ruthless thinning of reigning champions exposed the folly of that logic for all to see. Give Guardiola the tools and he will deliver you a masterpiece. The composition can be painstaking, but the product is always worth the wait. Just ask Jack Grealish or Erling Haaland or any other Manchester City player who excelled so brilliantly under the supervision of the game's ultimate perfectionist.
As the blue and white flags fluttered in unison in a euphoric mood, the stadium announcer took the moment to record Guardiola's 100 Champions League victories in just 160 games, far fewer than any other manager. Carlo Ancelotti, whose Real Madrid had been beaten so ruthlessly here, needed 180. Sir Alex Ferguson? 184. This is the measure of the company that Guardiola leaves behind. If he renews his contract with City beyond 2025, he could still have his own category of greatness.
Guardiola is one of only eight managers to have played 100 or more Champions League games. Photo: AP/Jon Super
Guardiola specializes in slaughtering aristocrats in all white. At Barcelona, Jose Mourinho's 5-0 victory for Real Madrid in 2010 came to a head, a sparkling night in which Messi drove Cristiano Ronaldo to an impotent rage, and enthusiastic Catalan fans raised all five fingers to complete the victory. This occasion has also earned its place in the canon of Guardiola's greatest nights. For it was a spectacle made in its own image: mad, relentless, unreserved in its commitment to the highest aesthetic standards.
There has never been such a level in English football. Not to mention trying to avoid their own half, Real Madrid could barely get past their defensive third in the first half, and every clearance by Thibaut Courtois caused another sky blue swarm. At times, Guardiola seemed to be asking City fans for more, to encourage them to appreciate the beauty of what they were watching. And with good reason, as his players pressed, counter-attacked, overlapped and pulled back as if their careers depended on it, leaving their aging opponents at Real Madrid in a daze.
Studying Guardiola on the touchline is a psychological workshop in itself. He rants, hectors, snorts, mostly over such minor slips that they are almost invisible to those who lack his omniscience. One rare strong blow to De Bruyne was enough for him to rush to the dugout in the heat of rage. It's exhausting to watch, not to mention embarrassed, but you feel like its stars couldn't have done otherwise. De Bruyne and his manager embraced affectionately as the Belgian finally gave way to Phil Foden, as if acknowledging that their master plan had come true.
>Guardiola's master class put Manchester City on the brink of waiting for the Champions League. Photo: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill
There are elements of the city project about which it is easy to be cynical: the state-backed largesse, the Tunnel Club boast, those pesky alleged financial wrongdoings, are all emphatically denied. But Guardiola is not one of them. He is the leader of the purest bloodline, a manager of such diabolical tactical acumen and such a compelling cult of personality that he uplifts everything he touches. Besides, he never forgets. He remembered all too keenly the agony of Rodrigo's last two goals that shattered the European dream 12 months ago, and directed it all to neutralize the continent's most titled club. "I felt like we had a stomachache for a year" he said.
It's an attitude he must maintain until June 10, when only a limited Inter Milan stand in the way of City. Anyone who appreciates the signs of genius must hope that this is so. The third title will level Guardiola with Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley, leaving him one behind Ancelotti. But these numbers alone hardly reflect the effect it creates. He helps Haaland become a minor deity in nine months. He takes care of Grealish so meticulously that all doubts about the £100 million price tag have been dispelled. And he timed his substitutions so skillfully that Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Julián Alvarez, three of those who came late against Real Madrid, had a hand in the fourth goal.
"We have . Guardiola," chanted the City fans to the tune of «Glad All Over». by Dave Clark Five. They have every reason to rejoice today, to believe in their good fortune that Guardiola has decided to devote most of his managerial life to their glory. Guardiola's biggest challenge has always been to see if he can summon his alchemy outside of Barcelona. He had his stellar achievements at Bayern Munich, but rarely in Europe. Now, at City, he is showing his last remaining detractors that he is no miracle for one club.
Of Guardiola's century of Champions League victories, 47 have been for City. How maniacally he would now dedicate himself to the task of securing the No. 48 at Inter's expense. The odds are overwhelmingly in his favor, and nothing will be left of this accomplishment but the merit of his gifts. After all, enjoying football in the era of Guardiola is just a rare privilege.
Свежие комментарии