Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography (38 page)

Guardiola at that time was, as Robson would put it, ‘a big fish’, and never afraid to give his opinions on the way to play, what they had to do or avoid doing. In fact, little by
little and finally for large parts of the season, the so-called ‘gang of 4’ (Pep, Luis Enrique, Sergi and
Abelardo) established an element of self-management when
they recognised that Robson couldn’t quite get to grips with the Barcelona style and the demands of La Liga. It was a critical time and Mourinho had to place himself on the side of the
coach

Robson won three trophies that season (Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup) but not the league and, by April, the club, aware of the lack of authority of the
manager, had already signed Louis Van Gaal who had impressed at Ajax. Mourinho had decided that he wanted to go back to Portugal at the end of the campaign, but Robson recommended him to the Dutch
coach who gave José even more authority and allowed him to coach the team in a few friendlies and dispense some tactical chats at half-time. The Robsons were replaced at the evening meals by
Truus and Louis, the Van Gaals.

Slowly but surely, José’s personality started blossoming. Away from Robson, after a few years of working in the dressing rooms of big clubs, freed from the early ties that contrived
his behaviour, Van Gaal discovered ‘an arrogant young man, who didn’t respect authority that much, but I did like that of him. He was not submissive, used to contradict me when he
thought I was in the wrong. Finally I wanted to hear what he had to say and ended up listening to him more than the rest of the assistants.’

Mourinho was clearly much more than a translator at Barcelona, but that was how he was known by the Catalan media and the title by which president Núñez insisted on referring to
him as such. It is easy for a Spaniard to dismiss the authority of a Portuguese, two nations with a unilateral rivalry (Spain looks beyond the Pyrenees for adversaries). That lack of respect would
never be completely forgotten, or forgiven, by Mourinho.

When Van Gaal was replaced in 2000, José’s contract was not renewed. He wanted to leave in fact, as he felt ready to be a number one. Pep was finishing his seventh season in the
first team of Barcelona when Mourinho looked for a coaching job in Portugal.

The rest is history. José became a winning coach and his success with Porto and Chelsea gave him the opportunity to replace Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, certainly one of his biggest
dreams.

But his tumultuous relationship with the Barça fans made some decision-makers at the Catalan club wary. It all began to go wrong when he first returned to the Camp
Nou as Chelsea manager for a Champions League clash in 2005. In the first of many stormy encounters with the Catalans, Mourinho accused Rijkaard of making a visit to referee Anders Frisk’s
dressing room at half-time. Mourinho complained to UEFA and in the ensuing maelstrom Frisk announced his retirement after receiving email death threats from fans over the issue. Consequently, the
head of UEFA’s referee committee branded Mourinho ‘an enemy of football’.

But behind that controversial mask, there is an extraordinary coach – and Mourinho had several admirers at the Camp Nou. In the meeting that took place with the Barcelona directors in
Lisbon in the spring of 2008, he desperately wanted to impress them. After the encounter, he was convinced he had been chosen ahead of Pep Guardiola.

But when he was rejected, with no clear notification from the Barcelona directors for many weeks, there was a burning feeling of betrayal.

Barcelona, on the other hand, and not for the first or the last time, were unable to take advantage of what could have been considered one of their assets: after all, Mourinho had been at the
club and knew it well. It is a disease of the Catalan or even the Barcelona mentality: treat as deserters those who leave the club, the nation, as happened with Ronaldinho recently or even with Pep
Guardiola himself. Instead of a friend, José became and was portrayed by the Catalan media and football society as a foe – yet one with inside information and harbouring the bitterness
of rejection, the worst kind of antagonist.

Following that rejection and after winning the league twice and the Champions League with Inter Milan in a two-year spell, he got the chance to sign for Real Madrid: an alternative route to a
date with destiny involving FC Barcelona.

Pep’s and José’s first encounter on opposing benches took place in the group stages of the Champions League, 2010. Barcelona, the
reigning champions, met Inter Milan in Mourinho’s second season at the Italian club and drew 0-0 in Italy, but the result didn’t reflect the magisterial lesson in style,
positioning and possession of the Catalans. At the return leg at the Camp Nou, Guardiola decided to leave Ibrahimović and Messi on the bench for the in-form Pedro and Henry, who played as
striker, and again the performance was excellent – an emphatic 2-0 victory.

‘Mourinho, go to the theatre,’ sang the Barcelona fans as a reminder of his comment about Leo Messi’s supposed ‘play-acting’ in a 2006 tie against Chelsea and of
his provocative slide along the Nou Camp touchline to celebrate a Chelsea goal the last time he was in the visitors’ dugout. The Portuguese coach cocked his ear to the 98,000 Barça
fans the second time they taunted him.

All in all, it had been an uncomfortable return for José, but he was gracious in defeat: ‘Barça were spectacular,’ he admitted afterwards. This first exchange of blows
between both managers reflected the expected superiority in quality. But Mourinho learnt up close what made Pep’s team so good.

The two managers met again in the semi-finals of the competition that same season, ideal for Mourinho, who was becoming a specialist in knockout situations. His repeated strategy included
kicking off the match in pre-game press conferences, creating a hostile atmosphere and placing football traps everywhere in the match.

For the first leg, Barcelona had to make their way to Milan by coach as a volcanic ash cloud drifting south from Iceland had paralysed European air travel. UEFA never considered suspending the
game and Barcelona had no option but to spend fourteen hours on a bus to reach their Milan hotel. Inter were tactically better prepared for the Catalans than earlier in the season and in the second
half Pep’s team didn’t quite seem at the races – despite scoring first, they conceded a Diego Milito goal (although clearly offside), and finally Inter deservedly won 3-1.

As expected, Mourinho continued playing his games in the post-game press meeting: ‘It is always difficult to lose, especially for those that are not used to it.’ Guardiola knew the
game José wanted to play and avoided being led into confrontation: ‘I respect him a lot and I won’t spend a single second answering things like that.’

Pep needed his team to focus on the return match. José knew that Barcelona were uncomfortable when dealing with strong emotions.

Mourinho, in his press conference before the return leg, fired another barb in Pep’s direction: ‘We are following a dream; Barcelona are pursuing an obsession. They have this
obsession called “Bernabéu”.’ That season’s Champions League final was to be played at Real Madrid’s stadium and José had shrewdly chosen those words
even though Inter had not won the European cup in thirty years. He added: ‘We are used to seeing these Barcelona players throwing themselves on the floor a lot.’

Guardiola shook his head as he was listening to Mourinho’s words in a backroom at the Camp Nou. When it was his turn to face the media, he tried to find the right tone to react to
José’s message and he wanted to steer the minds of players in a more positive direction: ‘My feeling is of huge happiness, of an indescribable pleasure. It is an honour and a
privilege to play again a semi-final of the Champions League. I will enjoy the game and I want my players to do so too. I have told them to be themselves. We aren’t playing against Inter,
we’re playing against ourselves. We are going to see if we are capable of being ourselves in the most important, transcendental game of our lives. Inter Milan don’t even
exist.’

Pep also felt the need to reinforce what his club were about after Mourinho’s insinuations: ‘We are an exemplary institution. We have lost and won a few times in the past twenty
months, but we have always retained respect.’

Mourinho had picked his battleground and the rules under which this second leg was going to be fought – and it worked against a Barcelona side which acted from the first minute of the game
as if it were the last. Iniesta was absent through injury and the team missed his clarity of passing and vision. When Thiago Motta was sent off after a clash with Busquets, Inter had to dig in and
defend for about an hour: in many ways the perfect scenario for them because it meant they could drop deep unashamedly.

Piqué scored well into the second half and a Bojan goal was disallowed for handball – but the Italian team, defending superbly, made it to the final.

Mourinho walked on to the Camp Nou pitch at the final whistle with his arms aloft, looking to the sky – only for Víctor Valdés and the water sprinklers
to bring a premature ending to his victory parade. ‘It is the most wonderful defeat of my life,’ he added minutes later.

Pep was magnanimous following his side’s knockout from the competition, no excuses were made and he was pragmatic about Mourinho: ‘Criticising him would be looking down on Inter and
that is not fair.’

Two days after being KO’d from the Champions League by Inter Milan, Barça found themselves playing for the league title away from home at Villarreal’s ground, with four games
remaining. Guardiola noticed that his players were hurt, broken by the defeat in the competition they were anxious to win. ‘What do I say to them?’ he asked himself out loud an hour
before sitting down in the el Madrigal dugout. Pep was obsessed with motivational messages being clear, concise, uncomplicated. He had previously used videos, even from YouTube, ideas,
inspirational stories, even lectures by heroes of his to boost team morale.

That day he approached his players smiling. There was not going to be a video. ‘Gentlemen, I can’t ask any more of you. You have given me more than any coach could ask of his
players. You’re great. Thank you for everything. I just want to say one thing. If we go out there and we lose, and the league is beyond our reach, it doesn’t matter. Not at all. Be
calm. Thank you so much. For me, you are all champions.’ Pep’s father, Valentí, was in the stands. Barça won the match 4-0 and recaptured the league title once again, the
second in a row for Pep’s team.

In his last press conference of that season, Guardiola sent a veiled message to the Madrid press when he congratulated Madrid’s players and staff for forcing them to
reach ninety-nine points to win the title, ‘but only them’. The assaults from the Spanish capital were harsh and not easily dealt with by Pep: ‘Sometimes we felt scorned.
Sometimes we were ashamed to celebrate titles. We have only played a sport in the best way we can but we have felt, for a while now, that we do
things that are not being
supported everywhere. So we have to do the work of an ant, of not responding to all the attacks. We know they have very loud speakers but it would only be fair if we all respected these players
that have dignified their profession with their effort. In any case, nothing will change, especially if Mourinho comes to La Liga.’

Even before José’s arrival, certain sectors of the Madrid press were looking for reasons to criticise and even attack Barcelona, a team that was receiving plaudits from the rest of
the world. According to that media: referees were benefiting Barcelona, the Spanish FA were helping them any way they could, UEFA turned a blind eye whenever Barça were involved, the
television schedule was favourable to them – and some even suggested that opposition coaches were letting Pep’s team win.

That sector of the media that wanted to take the Barcelona–Madrid rivalry to extremes would join forces with Mourinho in the coming season – in what turned out to be a radicalisation
of the coverage that helped paint both coaches in very simple terms: this drama was going to be, right from the beginning of the season, a struggle between good and evil in the eyes of the
press.

After the summer, Guardiola welcomed the arrival of the new Real Madrid coach in his first press appearance of the 2010–11 campaign: ‘Mourinho will improve me as a manager. It is
important that he works in Spain because he is one of the best in the world. He will make us all better.’ Pep knew José’s tricks: a loyal core of players around the manager,
criticisms of authority and refereeing, the ‘us against the world’ mentality and, ultimately, a very powerful, comprehensive method to win titles.

Pep had an idea of what was to come and his words were effectively a means of composing himself, taking a deep breath, before rolling up his shirtsleeves for the battle that would inevitably
commence.

Before the season gathered pace, Mourinho and Guardiola shared a few pleasantries at that UEFA coaches meeting in Nyon – five months after Barcelona’s Champions League KO at the
hands of Inter. The pair were never on their own at the conference but Mourinho made an effort to make Guardiola, in his first visit to the
forum, welcome. Pep, nevertheless,
could not help feeling a bit tense next to the Portuguese coach.

Behind the amicable façade, José had decided that, in order to beat Barcelona, this extraordinary collection of players that stood for one particular interpretation of the game of
football, he had to target their foundations, undermine and unsettle their cushioned life. Watching a Barça game just before he became the Madrid manager, Mourinho was amazed at the way the
referees effectively laid out the red carpet for the Catalans, and how even opposition players and fans were in awe of their talents and superiority. Mourinho decided that this had to finish, that
Barcelona needed to be knocked off their pedestal. And in order to do that, he would need to use every weapon in his armoury of words, accusations and insinuations.

It was, of course, not a new strategy for Mourinho. He had used similar approaches in England and Italy, adapting his methods to the respective countries. But the way he would execute his plan
in Spain would require taking those tactics to the extreme – not least because this time his rival would be the most powerful he had ever encountered.