Pep Confidential E-Book

Martí Perarnau

• Herausgeber: Arena Sport
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 678

Beschreibung

'Access inside the changing room and behind the scenes that any journalist or writer would kill for - Perarnau's insights are astonishing' - Graham Hunter 'Write about everything you see. Be as critical as you like' - Pep Guardiola to Marti Perarnau, summer 2013 Marti Perarnau was given total access to Bayern Munich during season 2013-14. This book represents the first time in the modern era that a writer has got this close to one of the elite teams of world football. At the invitation of Pep Guardiola, he shadowed the Catalan, his staff and his superstar players during training and on matchdays. Bayern smashed domestic records on their way to the double, but were humiliated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. Perarnau was with them every step of the way. Perarnau is with Guardiola as he is courted by the world's greatest clubs during his sabbatical in New York. We hear Guardiola explain in detail the radical tactical moves which transform Bayern's season and reprogramme the players who will win the World Cup with Germany.Perarnau talks exclusively and in fascinating detail with players such as Arjen Robben, Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Thiago Alcantara and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Pep Confidential is much more than the story of a season - it is also a lasting portrait of one of the greatest coaches in sport. 

Leseprobe

PEP

CONFIDENTIAL

INSIDE PEP GUARDIOLA’S FIRST SEASONAT BAYERN MUNICH

First published in Great Britain in 2014 byARENA SPORTAn imprint of Birlinn LimitedWest Newington House10 Newington RoadEdinburghEH9 1QS

www.arenasportbooks.co.uk

Published in association withBACKPAGE PRESSwww.backpagepress.co.uk

Copyright © Martí Perarnau, 2014Translation © Louise Hunter, 2014

ISBN: 9781909715257eBook ISBN: 9780857908179

First published in Spain in 2014 by Rocca Editorial as Herr Pep

The right of Martí Perarnau to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library.

Designed and typeset by Polaris Publishing, Edinburgh

Printed and bound by Clays St Ives

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Part One – Time, Patience, Passion

1.   

Dinner with Kasparov

2.   

‘I Need to know Everything about the Club, as Quickly as Possible.’

3.   

‘I Could see myself Coaching Here One Day.’

4.   

‘They will be at the Vanguard of European Football for the Next Five Years.’

5.   

‘I’m Desperate to watch Training – I Want to see what Pep Decides to Change.’

6.   

‘Leo, It’s Pep. Can you come over? Now, Please.’

7.   

‘Do you see Lahm’s Potential?’

8.   

‘Thiago’s Coming.’

9.   

‘The Idea is to Dominate the Ball.’

10.   

‘We Don’t have a Messi or a Ronaldo – But we have the Right Collective Mentality.’

11.   

‘Who are our Unstoppable Guys? Ribéry and Robben.’

12.   

‘They’ll Climb that Mountain 10 Times in a Row.’

13.   

‘I told Rosell I Would be Going 6000km away from him.’

14.   

‘Borussia Deserved to win.’

Part Two – The First Trophy

15.   

‘Maybe it was a Mistake.’

16.   

‘What do you know about Athleticism?’

17.   

‘Javi, Look at Dante, Look at Dante, The Line, The Line!’

18.   

‘It’s not Possession that Matters, But the Intention Behind it.’

19.   

‘I Don’t have any Midfielders.’

20.   

We’re Trying to do this Right, Not Just Win Titles.’

21.   

‘Bring the Ball Out Well and you will Play Well.’

22.   

‘I Loathe all that Passing – That Tiquitaca.’

23.   

‘Lahm … The Guy is Fucking Exceptional!’

24.   

‘Pam! Pam! That’s our Style of Play!’

25.   

‘Bayern were like something out of a Movie Today.’

26.   

‘Lads, I don’t know how to take Penalties. I’ve Never Taken One in My Life. But here’s the Best Penalty Taker in the World.’

Part Three – 2013: A Prodigious Year

27.   

‘Right Now I’m not the best in the world.’

28.   

‘Hoeness is the Heart and soul of this Club – He’s Vital to me.’

29.   

‘We are all Hiding Behind the Coach.’

30.   

‘Gentlemen, this is Tiquitaca and it is Shit.’

31.   

The Treasure Map

32.   

‘Lahm? he’s as Football-Intelligent as Iniesta.’

33.   

‘For 80 Minutes we Played Perfect Football – The Best Football I’ve seen in my Life.’

34.   

‘If anyone would Prefer me not to make the Decisions, No Problem. You Decide who’s Going to Play.’

35.   

‘I’m not Saying my Way is Better. It’s Just my Way.’

36.   

‘Diego! I Love You!’

37.   

‘Put the Good Players in the Midfield. That’s my Idea and I’m Going to Stick with it.’

38.   

‘The Whole Club has told me that Franck wants to Talk to me. I want to Talk to him, too.’

39.   

‘Excellence is Like a Bubble. You can Look for it, But it only Appears from Time to Time.’

40.   

‘Mistakes Come when you Relax.’

41.   

‘Here we are Again. Another Final.’

Part Four – The League in March

42.   

‘In Six Months here Pep has Tried more things than in Four Years at Barça.’

43.   

‘I’m Going to have to make some Radical Changes.’

44.   

‘I Look at the Footage of our Opponents and then Try to Work out how to Demolish them.’

45.   

‘Perfect Football is Damn Difficult to Achieve.’

46.   

‘He’s so Intense that he’ll Exhaust us.’

47.   

‘They like the Idea of Telling Their Friends: I Play for Pep Guardiola.’

48.   

‘Just as well we had Manu. Without that Hand I Don’T know where we’d be.’

49.   

‘Lahm Brings this Team to Life.’

50.   

‘I’ve Gone for Control. Control and more Control.’

51.   

‘Uli is Our Heart. It’s Hard to Imagine Bayern without him.’

52.   

‘Picking a Line-Up is Like Sitting in Front of your Chess Pieces.’

53.   

‘I Love You Pep. You are in my Heart, Man.’

Part Five – Falling Down and Getting Back up Again

54.   

‘It Hurts – It makes you Feel like your Skin is Burning.’

55.   

‘Always Pick the Good Ones. Always.’

56.   

‘The Essence of Football is Working out the Best way to attack your Opponents.’

57.   

‘I’ve Never Played like this … Not Even in my Boldest Days at Barça.’

58.   

‘Arjen’s a Beast.’

59.   

‘I don’t Consider Myself a Good Coach.’

60.   

‘We have to Remember that if we don’t Run, we’re Nothing.’

61.   

‘A Complete Fuck-Up.’

62.   

I Saw Pep Utterly Beaten for the First Time.’

63.   

Mea Culpa

64.   

‘All Teams go through Different Phases’

65.   

‘Javi And Robben, in Defence and Attack’

66.   

Bloom in the Glow of Happiness

67.   

The Kid and the Captain

Epilogue – A Last Word from Pep

Plate Section

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

‘When a club like Bayern calls you have to respond.’ Guardiola prepares to greet a press pack of 247 journalists – the biggest number ever to attend such an event at the club – at his official announcement as Bayern Munich head coach. Getty Images

‘Any team that has won four titles doesn’t need much of an overhaul.’ The images of Bayern’s treble-winning players loom large over Guardiola in the home changing room at the Allianz Arena. Getty Images

Despite insisting that his squad did not need many new personnel, Guardiola’s technical revolution meant a sharp learning curve for his players, who would have to adapt their traditional German style to a more possession-based approach. Getty Images

Guardiola surprised his new players by conversing with them in passable German during training sessions. ‘Our language on the pitch is all about giving instructions,’ he said. Getty Images

‘I know how much this means to him, his first title. I also know about his old rivalry with Mourinho.’ Franck Ribéry celebrates with Guardiola after his second-half strike against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup in August 2013. The Frenchman dedicated his man-of-the-match award to his new boss. Getty Images

‘Have you seen how well Lahm anticipates the next pass? How he turns and protects the ball? He can play on the wing or in the middle of the field.’ Guardiola’s conversion of Bayern captain Philipp Lahm from right-back to midfield linchpin was one of the foundations of their success Getty Images

Teenage midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was quickly identified by Guardiola as a prodigious talent and would go on to feature in the DFB-Pokal final in May after a traumatic season in which he lost his father. ‘He’s shown me how important it is to play without fear. Just to get on with playing whether you’re up against Xabi Alonso or a complete amateur,’ said Højbjerg. Getty Images

Guardiola quickly revolutionised Bayern’s training methods, introducing tactical and positional work at the expense of hard running. The Catalan would frequently tease his players over their insistence on running. ‘What purpose do these long runs have other than to hurt your back?’ he would laugh. Getty Images

Pep stretches after a training session while chatting with the author. ‘Pep is very fussy about his appearance,’ writes Perarnau.

Guardiola chats with the author in his office. The Bayern boss gave Perarnau unprecedented access to the club throughout the 2013-14 season on the proviso that he did not write about what he saw until the campaign had ended.

Lorenzo Buenaventura (left), Bayern’s head fitness coach, explains the team’s physical preparation strategy to the author. ‘He is trying to introduce new concepts to football and he likes to see it evolving year by year,’ says Buenaventura of Guardiola.

‘I’m trying to implement something that flies in the face of the culture here.’ Pep explains the details of his game plan, the player positions, sequences and movements to his coaches before training.

Guardiola and his wife, Cristina, embrace Oktoberfest in Munich by dressing in traditional German costume. ‘I don’t have any problem with all that because what is important for the club is also important for me,’ says Guardiola. ‘At Barça I didn’t do much of this kind of thing… each has its culture and its way of doing things.’

Guardiola’s relationship with Arjen Robben would prove pivotal to his revolution at Bayern. ‘I love this style of football because it reminds me a bit of the traditional Dutch game, the football Van Gaal used to play,’ said Robben. Getty Images

Bastian Schweinsteiger scores in the 1-1 draw during Bayern’s last 16 second-leg match against Arsenal in March 2014. ‘With a 2-0 lead from the away game, it made no sense to take risks,’ reflected Guardiola, who watched his side claim their place in the Champions League quarter-finals. Getty Images

Pep issues instructions to Franck Ribéry, Javi Martínez and Philipp Lahm during Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen on April 2014. ‘I want them to dig into that DNA, let themselves go, run, liberate themselves,’ insists Guardiola. Getty Images

Manchester United’s goalkeeper, David de Gea, is unable to save Arjen Robben’s strike during the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Allianz Arena. It was a tough evening for the home side who fell behind to Patrice Evra’s strike and struggled to break United down, before emerging 3-1 winners on the night. ‘What else did you expect? They’re a brilliant team,’ insisted Guardiola. Getty Images

Guardiola faced his old El Clásico nemesis Real Madrid in the 2014 Champions League semi-final. It would prove to be an unhappy reunion for the Catalan, who lost the first leg 1-0 and then changed tactics for the second leg at the behest of his players, only to go down 4-0. ‘I got it totally wrong,’ he admitted. Getty Images

Sergio Ramos scores Real Madrid’s second goal during the Champions League semi-final second leg. Astonishingly, after a season of defensive solidity, Bayern conceded three of Madrid’s four goals from set plays. Getty Images

A dejected Philipp Lahm looks on as Real Madrid’s players celebrate their progression to the Champions League final. Guardiola’s decision to move Lahm from his influential berth in mid-field to right-back proved a serious tactical error against the Spaniards. Getty Images

Bayern secured the Bundesliga title with a record seven games still to play. It fulfilled Guardiola’s stated ambition to put domestic superiority ahead of everything else in his first season, but also disrupted his team’s momentum in the Champions League. Getty Images

Jérôme Boateng showers his manager with beer as they celebrate the Bundesliga title. ‘I loved every minute of that shower because of what it symbolised: we are the champions. No mean feat!’ said Guardiola. Getty Images

Pep holds aloft the Bundesliga trophy after Bayerns’s home win over VfB Stuttgart. ‘I particularly appreciate all the effort made by players … it has not been easy to come back from a treble-winning season and stay mentally or physically at peak,’ said Guardiola. Getty Images

Seven days after lifting the Bundesliga, Arjen Robben celebrates scoring against Borussia Dortmund during the DFB Pokal final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. The 2-0 victory after extra-time is a tactical triumph for Guardiola, who employed a more conservative approach after learning lessons from the Champions League loss to Real Madrid. Getty Images

Guardiola is flung into the night sky in Berlin after victory in Berlin, mimicking the same celebration during his spell at Barcelona. Getty Images

‘Ich liebe euch. Ich bin ein Münchener [I love you. I’m a Munich man now]’. Cradling the DFB-Pokal, Guardiola joins his team on the Munich town hall balcony at Marienplatz before addressing the fans. Getty Images

Bayern became the second team to follow a treble-winning season with a double, the other being PSV Eindhoven in 1987/8 and 1988/9. Getty Images

‘We’ve won a lot and everyone is delighted because winning titles buys you the time you need to start building the future.’ Season 2014-15 will bring a host of new challenges for Guardiola, both domestically and in Europe. Getty Images

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks go to Lufthansa and the Munich U-Bahn (Metro) for getting me there on time.

And to the security guards at FC Bayern, led by Heinz Jünger, who sheltered me from the heat and the cold.

A huge thank you is also due to everyone at Munich’s Hotel Wetterstein, where I spent much of last year and felt very much at home.

Thanks also to Markus Hörwick, FC Bayern’s very able director of communications, and to his team Nina Aigner, Cristina Neumann, Holger Quest and Petra Trott.

I am enormously grateful to all the FC Bayern players, and in particular to Thiago Alcántara, Jerôme Boateng, Dante Bonfim, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Philipp Lahm, Javi Martínez, Manuel Neuer, Rafinha, Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger, for their collaboration and the kindness they have shown me.

Thanks also to Paul Breitner, Roman Grill, Jupp Heynckes, Jürgen Klopp, Alexis Menuge, Christoph Metzelder, Stefen Niemeyer, Manuel Pellegrini, Daniel Rathjen, Ronald Reng, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Xavier Sala i Martín, Christian Streich, Julien Wolff and Mounir Zitouni, who have all made interesting contributions to this book.

To Matthias Sammer, for all his passion and his German language tutorials.

Thanks also to Isaac Lluch, a young, talented journalist whose vital support for me, in every sense of the word, knew no bounds.

Sincere thanks to Guardiola’s technical team, Domènec Torrent, Lorenzo Buenaventura and Carles Planchart, without whose direction and advice it would have been impossible to understand the team’s training regime and playing style.

And to Manel Estiarte, the key that opens every door. It is impossible to express the enormous debt I owe him for all his help and support.

And finally, to Pep Guardiola, the man who gave me this opportunity to understand in depth the workings of an elite football team, for all the generosity he showed me even through the blackest moments of the season.

PART ONE

TIME, PATIENCE, PASSION

‘We need patience.’KARL-HEINZ RUMMENIGGE

*  *  *

‘We need passion.’MATTHIAS SAMMER

*  *  *

‘We need time.’PEP GUARDIOLA

1

DINNER WITH KASPAROV

New York, October 2012

TAKING A LAST bite of salad, Garry Kasparov shook his head and muttered irritably: ‘Impossible!’

For the third time that night he tried to fend off Pep Guardiola’s relentless questioning. The Catalan was determined to understand why Kasparov would not even consider the idea of competing against the young maestro, Magnus Carlsen, the world’s most promising chess player.

Until then, the atmosphere over dinner had been perfectly congenial. Indeed, since meeting Kasparov a few weeks before, Pep had made no attempt to conceal his fascination for the great champion.

Kasparov embodies the qualities Pep prizes above all others: resilience, intelligence, dedication, persistence, inner strength and a healthy streak of rebelliousness. It had therefore been an absolute delight to meet up over a meal or two. So far the conversation had covered a range of topics from economics and technology to, inevitably, sport and competition.

Guardiola was a few months into his sabbatical from the elite of world football. He had promised himself a year of tranquility in New York and was just starting to enjoy it.

He had spearheaded a triumphant era at FC Barcelona, the most successful period in the Catalan club’s history – achievements which may never be matched. During his four years in charge he won a formidable total of 14 trophies out of the 19 available, including six titles in 2009 alone. Yet, despite all of the brilliance and passion, the experience had left him drained and exhausted. Increasingly dispirited, he had decided to leave Barça before the damage became irreparable.

New York represented a fresh start. He wanted the chance to switch off, forget the past and discover new ideas. This was an opportunity to recharge his batteries and top up the reserves of energy that had become so depleted. He was keen to spend time with his family, whom he had neglected under pressure of work.

There would also be time to touch base with old friends. One of those was Xavier Sala i Martín, professor of economics at Columbia University, who had been director of finance at Barça from 2009 to 2010, during Joan Laporta’s final term as president.

Sala i Martín, a renowned economist with an international reputation, is a good friend of the Guardiola family and has lived in New York for some time. His presence there was an important factor in overcoming the family’s misgivings about moving to the city. The children had not yet mastered English and Cristina, Pep’s wife, would have to leave her own job in the family business in Catalonia.

Initially, none of them was particularly enthusiastic about Pep’s proposal, but Sala i Martín persuaded them to give New York a go and so far the whole experience had proved much better than expected.

Sala i Martín also counts Garry Kasparov as a close friend and one autumn night was forced to decline a dinner invitation to the Guardiolas’ New York home: ‘Sorry Pep. I can’t make it tonight. I’m having dinner with the Kasparovs.’

He then suggested that his Catalan friend accompany him to the meal, an idea which delighted not just Pep but Kasparov and his wife, Daria, too.

During what was a fascinating evening, the conversation flowed despite the fact that neither chess nor football was mentioned. They talked about inventions and technology, about the value of breaking pre-established paradigms and the virtue of remaining steadfast in the face of uncertainty. Most of all, they talked about passion.

Central to the discussion was Kasparov’s rather bleak assertion that technological potential is being directed to the world of entertainment more than anything else. In his view, current technological advances lack the transcendence of their predecessors and this has helped contribute to worldwide economic stagnation.

According to the former world chess champion, even the birth of the internet can’t be compared to the transformative power of the invention of electricity, which resulted in authentic worldwide economic change. It gave women access to the workplace and doubled the total volume of the world economy. In other words, he believes that the economic impact of the internet in terms of market production rather than pure finance, is vastly inferior.

Citing the example of the iPhone, whose processing potential is far superior to that of the Apollo 11 computer, the AGC (Apollo Guidance Computer), which had 100,000 times less RAM memory, he pointed out that whilst ACGs were used to put men on the moon, now we use mobile phones to kill little birds (a reference to the popular game Angry Birds).

Sala i Martín observed the encounter with some admiration.

‘It was fascinating to spend time with two such clever men and be privy to their discussions about technology, inventions, passion and complexity.’

The mutual fascination was such that a few weeks later they made a date for a second meal. Sala i Martín, who had left for South America, was unable to attend, but this time Cristina Serra, Pep’s wife, joined the group.

On this occasion the subject of chess was definitely on the agenda.

Guardiola was surprised by Kasparov’s intransigent attitude towards the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, whom he predicted would be the new world champion (Carlsen did indeed become champion a year later in November 2013, when he beat Viswanathan Anand 6.5 to 3.5).

Kasparov was unstinting in his praise of the great young maestro (then 22 years old), whom he had secretly trained in 2009. But he also pointed out the weaknesses Carlsen would have to overcome in order to dominate the world of chess.

It was then that Guardiola asked Kasparov if he felt capable of beating the emerging Norwegian. The response surprised him: ‘I have the ability to beat him, but in practice it is impossible.’

The answer struck Guardiola as little more than political correctness. It was, he assumed, an attempt by the impetuous Russian to be as diplomatic as possible. ‘But Garry,’ he insisted, ‘you have the ability, so why couldn’t you beat him?’

For the second time, the rejoinder was an emphatic ‘Impossible!’

But Pep Guardiola is a stubborn man and Kasparov had, after all, allowed him to open this particular can of worms. He was not going to let the matter rest. The Catalan stood his ground and repeated his question for the third time.

This time Kasparov seemed to visibly retreat into the protective shell he had developed in his chess playing days. Eyes fixed on his plate, as if defending a particularly tenuous position on the chessboard, he snapped: ‘Impossible.’

A change of tactic was in order and Guardiola decided to wait for another opportunity to explore the reasons for Kasparov’s stubbornness – not out of idle curiosity but because he sensed that, somewhere within, lay the answer to a key question for Guardiola: Why had he been so worn out by Barça? And, above all, how could he avoid repeating the same mistake in the future?

If I had to define Pep Guardiola I would describe him as a man who questions everything, not through insecurity or fear of the unknown, but in the search for perfection. Although he recognises it as an impossible goal, it is nonetheless the force that drives him. As a result, he is often left with a pervading sense of unfinished work.

Guardiola can be obsessional in this respect and believes that the ideal solution can be found only after examining all the available options. Rather like a master chess player who analyses all the possibilities before moving his next piece.

When he sits down to prepare his game plan he does not spend time thinking about his team’s general approach. His players will be going out to get the ball, play attacking football and win the match.

The basic strategy never changes but there is still room for nuance, for the application of a range of different options all of which he examines in the week before a match. He goes over and over the line-up in his mind, analysing the contribution of one player with respect to another and examining how their opponents will affect what his players can do. He wants to be sure of the level of synergy between playing partners as well as how the different lines in his team will work together when under attack.

No matter the opponent, his preparation never changes and he will not rest for a second until all the variants have been dissected and assessed. Then, when he has finished, he goes over it all again. This is what Manel Estiarte, his right-hand man at Barça and Bayern, calls ‘the law of 32 minutes’. The term refers to his often-fruitless attempts to persuade Pep to disconnect from football. From time to time Estiarte will use all the resources at his disposal to curb the coach’s obsessional behaviour. Experience, however, has taught him that Pep cannot be distracted for much longer than 30 minutes at a time.

‘You invite him for a meal in a restaurant, hoping that he’ll forget about football, but 32 minutes later you can see his mind is already wandering,’ Estiarte explains. ‘He starts staring at the ceiling and, although he’s nodding as if he’s listening to you, he’s not looking at you. In actual fact he’s probably thinking about the opposition left-back, the marking scheme for the midfielders, how much the wingers can support the inside-forwards… the guy can only manage half an hour and then he goes straight back to his mental contemplation.’

The stress caused by this constant need to analyse will be much easier to cope with at Bayern, as long as the players and management are behind him.

In fact, Estiarte now insists on him leaving Säbener Strasse, Bayern’s training ground, from time to time and going home to disconnect. On these occasions Pep does indeed go home. He plays with his kids and then, at about the half-hour mark, goes off to a little alcove at the far end of the hall and returns to his analysis. His 32 minutes are up and, for the fourth time that day, he sets about exploring all the options from every angle.

This is why Kasparov’s response had become so important to him. This is why Pep had to decipher the enigma.

Why would a legend like Kasparov, himself an amazing talent, consider it impossible to beat an opponent?

In the end, it was the female members of this New York gathering who provided the answer. Bringing the conversation back to the concept of passion, Cristina and Daria began to discuss the pressures and emotional exhaustion involved.

‘Perhaps it is an issue of concentration,’ suggested Cristina.

‘That’s it!’ Daria agreed. ‘If it were just one two-hour game Garry could beat Carlsen, but in reality the match would go on for five or six hours and Garry just doesn’t want to go through the pain of so many hours with his brain on overload, calculating possibilities. Carlsen is young and isn’t aware yet of what that does to you. Garry understands the impact only too well and wouldn’t want to go through that for days on end. You would end up with one player who can concentrate for five hours and another who can manage only two. It would be impossible for him to win.’

That night Guardiola managed very little sleep. He was too busy reflecting on everything he had heard.

2

‘I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CLUB, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.’

Munich, June 24, 2013

IT’S THE FESTIVAL of San Juan, Pep’s first day at Bayern, and it is raining. It does not seem to bother him. He is radiant, almost to the point that he has to contain the feeling of pure joy that threatens to overflow at any moment.

There are no nerves. What he feels is pure elation and he has no intention of hiding it. He is delighted to have returned to football; he feels like he is standing in the starting gate, confident in the knowledge that his ride is fast, spirited and eager to be off. Everyone at Bayern shares the same excited anticipation. This is the day of Pep’s presentation and emotions are running high. It is as if they have just added yet another title to the treble won in the season just ended – or else made the first conquest of the new season.

This is a day that will go down in the club’s history books. The celebrations are, however, low key.

Two hundred and forty seven journalists have been invited to the press conference – the biggest number ever to have been given accreditation for an event like this at the club. The atmosphere in the Allianz Arena is extraordinary, as if Pep’s arrival represents not a simple presentation, more an accession. Enthusiastic noise fills the Munich stadium and there is tension in the air as a solid mass of journalists cram themselves into the press room.

Pep is delighted to be back in the saddle. No longer the exhausted figure we watched walking away from Barça; today there is a gleam in his eye, and he looks rejuvenated. He is doing what he loves once again. Working with a ball at his feet.

‘I love football,’ he declares. ‘I liked it even before I started to play it. I still like to play it, I like to watch it, I like to talk about it. I’m going to shut myself up in Säbener Strasse so that I learn everything I need to know about the club as quickly as possible, right down to the youngsters in the youth system.’

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, president of the executive committee, starts off by announcing the club’s objectives: ‘For us, the most important title is the Bundesliga because it represents 34 matches. The highest prize as always is the Champions League, but it is a competition where there are no guarantees and the things you take for granted in domestic football don’t always work.

‘I am really looking forward to finding out what Pep will change in the team.’ The coach waves his hands as if to say he intends to change very little, although I have the feeling that this is his natural diplomacy rather than anything else. His technical team, standing just a few metres away from him, seem to agree.

Manel Estiarte, who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes, will be his right-hand man, the person who will tell it like it is, regardless of whether the news is good or bad. Domènec Torrent shares the post of assistant coach with Hermann Gerland. Gerland is a Bayern man through and through, and has worked with players such as Thomas Müller, David Alaba and Philipp Lahm.

Lorenzo Buenaventura is sitting amongst the journalists. Buenaventura is the physical trainer whose dedication to Guardiola is such that he dropped everything to follow him to Barça, and has now joined him in Munich.

Carles Planchart is next to Buenaventura. Planchart will be responsible for scouting, as well as the tactical analysis of rivals and, still more importantly, their movements on the pitch.

Cristina, Pep’s wife, and Maria, his eldest daughter, are in the sixth row of the hall. His brother, Pere, has also come along today, accompanied by both Evarist Murtra, the director who initially suggested that Pep become Barça coach, and Jaume Roures, the impresario who controls Spanish football’s broadcast rights.

The coach’s agent, Josep Maria Orobitg, is the last of the small group of family and friends who have made the trip to be here today.

Bayern welcomes Guardiola as if they have just found the final piece of their puzzle. Pep represents everything they need to make that final leap to the highest echelons of the sport.

Rummenigge puts it into words for us: ‘We have made up a massive amount of ground on FC Barcelona but remain in second place despite the great successes of this last season. I am delighted to have signed someone like Guardiola. It is a privilege for Bayern.’

Guardiola tries to quieten the crowd and temper their growing enthusiasm: ‘It would be presumptuous to say that Bayern is about to embark on a new era. We have to take it step by step. Expectations are very high and it isn’t going to be easy. I’m actually a little nervous.’

To everyone’s surprise, he speaks in very accurate German. He has a go at complex grammatical constructions and correctly uses the demonstrative pronoun ‘diese’ as well as the difficult word ‘herausforderung’ when he talks about the challenges he faces.

In his first few weeks in charge the German press will make a fuss of his mastery of their language but, as the months go by, it will become a normal part of their interactions, even if he has to ask them to slow down from time to time.

Everyone wants to know what he intends to change. Should they expect the kind of revolution he initiated at Barça in 2008 when he showed Ronaldinho and Deco, the supremely talented but wayward Brazilians, the door?

Pep shakes his head: ‘There is very little in the team that has to change. Every coach has his own ideas but, in my opinion, any team that has won four titles [including the 2012 German Super Cup] doesn’t need much of an overhaul. Bayern are doing brilliantly and you have an excellent team. I hope to maintain the same level of success as Jupp Heynckes. He is a first-class coach and I admire him enormously not only because of his most recent triumphs, but for the work he has done throughout his whole career. I hope to meet him again soon because I value his opinion. It’s a great honour to be his successor and I have the greatest respect for him.’

It is as if the club and its new coach are starting afresh. Pep won 14 titles in four years at Barcelona, the Munich club gathered seven titles in the same period; but for today they have forgotten their past successes and are thinking only of this new beginning.

Uli Hoeness, the club’s president, confesses that he had to pinch himself when Guardiola indicated an interest in joining them: ‘Initially, when Pep said that he could imagine himself coaching here one day, we couldn’t believe it!’

With almost childlike enthusiasm, big hopes and high expectations, they are embarking on this new journey together. But there is also an element of fear. In football everyone starts from zero with every new season. You are only as good as your last game.

Pep: ‘When a club like Bayern calls you have to respond and I am ready to face the challenge. My time at Barcelona was fantastic, but I needed something new and Bayern has given me this opportunity.

‘There is going to be lots of pressure but I’ll just have to put up with it. As Bayern coach you are expected to play well and keep winning.

‘I want to reiterate that a team as successful as this one won’t need too many changes.’

The speech is very different to the one he delivered back in 2008, when he took over at Barça. Back then Pep promised to struggle, to run and to fight until the last whistle of the last minute of the last game. Here, the effort is taken for granted and the huge pressure that Guardiola will impose on himself and others will be considered much like the rain or the beer in Munich, just another normal part of everyday life.

Right now he is anxious to explain his football philosophy: ‘My football is simple: I like to attack, attack and attack.’

Then everyone makes their way down to the Allianz Arena pitch so that Guardiola can sit on the coach’s bench for the first time. One of the Catalans present quotes Cavafy’s famous poem ‘Íthaca’ – a favourite of Pep’s. ‘May the journey be long,’ he wishes Pep on this fresh Munich morning. Guardiola turns to him and adds: ‘Let’s hope it’s a good journey, too!’

Pep has spent as much time as he could endure away from football.

Some weeks previously, Manel Estiarte was taken aback when the Catalan asked him to have his office in Säbener Strasse ready from June 10.

‘What on earth are you going to do there at that time of the summer?’ he demanded. ‘There won’t be anyone about! Enjoy your holidays, because very soon you won’t have any free time at all.’

Pep is back where he wants to be. Pursuing his passion.

But what about Bayern? Why the change? Why would a treble-winning horse decide to change its rider?

Por qué?

Warum?

Why?

To understand the reason for Bayern’s decision to appoint a new coach just as they were enjoying such success requires an understanding of the realities of a modern football club, and the role of the directors in an industry which combines the tangible with the intangible – mixing goals and roars in equal measure.

Bayern could boast a proud history, financial clout, innate self-confidence and a strong fan base. After a glorious run of successes, the future looked bright. They had built their excellence on the virtues that best represent the German character: endurance, unshakeable belief and an iron will. What they lacked was a playing philosophy.

Hoeness and Rummenigge were no longer interested in just winning titles, now they wanted a clear identity, an enduring hallmark which would establish their dominance once and for all. They wished that, in due course, the Bayern brand wouldn’t simply be related to effort, courage, power and victory. They wanted more. In this quest, Pep was the chosen one.

Perhaps the real stroke of genius on the part of the Bavarian club was to start making changes at the peak of their success. After all, nobody would have complained had they continued with Heynckes and his staff after their treble win.

Under Guardiola, the club hoped to take a quantum leap forward and achieve the kind of consistent and enduring success they craved. They understood that none of this would be easy. Heynckes had set the bar very high.

All of this has led to this moment. Here, today, on June 24, 2013, in the Allianz Arena.

On the pitch Guardiola’s eyes meet those of Matthias Sammer, Bayern’s technical director, the man on whom he’ll come to rely in the coming months.

Pep’s expression seems to hint at the paradox he is accepting. His climb starts here, at the summit. His mission is to climb higher still.

In Munich it rains for about 134 days a year. Just one more thing Pep will have to get used to.

3

‘I COULD SEE MYSELF COACHING HERE ONE DAY.’

New York, October 2012

‘PREPARE YOURSELF, MANEL. I’ve chosen Bayern!’

In Pescara, in the north-east of Italy, Manel Estiarte smiles. Hard though it had been for his old friend to close one chapter of his life, the decision about his next step had obviously been an easy one. Their destination would not after all be England, but Germany.

The exchange is taking place five months after Pep’s departure from Barça. In this time, he has been flooded with offers: Chelsea, Manchester City, Milan and, of course, Bayern. In reality, they are not job offers, but love letters, project proposals for this most illustrious of coaches.

The departure from Barça had been long and difficult and Guardiola had shared his plans with his friend Estiarte before speaking to the club, or even to Tito Vilanova, his deputy and successor. The reason was pretty straightforward. After four years at maximum intensity, Pep was drained. He had no more to give.

This was not the only reason, of course.

Over his four-year tenure, Pep had been expected to act as coach, club spokesperson, virtual president and even travel co-ordinator. During that time he had also struggled to remain on good terms with two successive presidents.

He had found in Joan Laporta a dynamic but pushy man, who possessed volcanic energy and who could be supportive one minute and undermining the next. Electric, contradictory – occasionally lewd.

Sandro Rosell was different and Pep quickly discovered that the new president’s smiling demeanour concealed the cold, treacherous heart of a bureaucrat. Guardiola balanced the at-times hysterical behaviour of Laporta with his own calm sobriety. He coped with Rosell’s sanctimonious posturing by injecting an overdose of his own energy.

Relations with neither president were simple. Pep managed to deal calmly and quietly with Laporta’s histrionic outbursts. Although the two men were not close, the coach appreciated the opportunities the president had given him. Laporta had initially appointed Guardiola as Barcelona B coach and Pep had been hugely successful there, bringing the team up from the tough Third Division, an achievement he still considers one of his greatest successes. His gratitude to Laporta was absolutely sincere and also extended to the sports director, his old colleague from Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team, the elusive winger, Txiki Begiristain.

The triumphs of Laporta’s period in charge, however, concealed the struggles and skirmishes going on behind the scenes.

At times Pep felt like the captain of a ponderous ocean liner as he fought to steer the team in one direction whilst the club pulled in the other. No decision was straightforward, whether it involved transferring training sessions to the new training ground, making sure his technical staff had the same sponsored cars as the squad, organising publicity shots or agreeing the club’s official position on any issue. FC Barcelona was a vast machine that moved to a rhythm and leadership style that had little to do with the way Guardiola managed his team.

However, by early 2010 Guardiola sensed that things were about to take a turn for the worse. Presidential elections were looming that summer and Sandro Rosell was the favourite to win. Rosell had been vice-president from 2003 to 2005, until disagreements with Laporta forced him to resign.

Under Laporta, the Catalan coach had won all six titles: La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the European and Spanish Supercups and the Club World Cup.

Rosell won the elections with an overwhelming majority and his arrival added a sense of animosity and resentment to the already complex bureaucratic difficulties which plagued life at the club. In private, the new president referred to Pep as the Dalai Lama. Believing his coach to be a Laporta devotee, he was slow to trust him and resented the fact that the team had peaked too early by winning the six trophies during his predecessor’s reign. The gulf between president and coach became unbreachable when Rosell persuaded the club’s general assembly of members to vote in favour of taking legal action against Laporta. Rosell was smart enough to abstain from the vote himself, but for Guardiola it was the beginning of the end.

For four years, Pep demanded unstinting effort from his players. Nothing but their best would do and at times his exacting standards caused friction within the group. Many of the players were unfazed by the relentless work rate, but some felt they had earned the right to relax a bit. They were the elite of world football, after all, and they had the trophies to prove it. More than one of Pep’s men were now interested in contesting only the important games and they began to make excuses to avoid the kind of grim, uninspiring winter matches which were played on cold, inhospitable pitches. To add to Pep’s woes, one new signing in particular was failing to live up to expectations.

Despite the team’s continuing success, Pep knew that his time at Barça was nearing its end. ‘The day I see the light go out of my players’ eyes, I’ll know it’s time to go.’

By early 2012, some eyes were already a little less bright.

People around FC Barcelona have often claimed that Pep’s decision to leave was influenced by Sandro Rosell’s lack of support for his plans to make drastic changes to the squad. Plans which apparently included selling players like Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fàbregas and Dani Alves.

The Catalan coach flatly denied this when we spoke: ‘It’s just not true. I left Barcelona because I was worn out. I explained how I felt to the president in October 2011. There was no change of heart after that. So it would have made no sense at all for me to start changing the squad. I knew I was leaving!

‘The facts of the matter are that we won four titles that year and were playing better than ever, with the 3-4-3 we used against Real Madrid and the 3-7-0 I opted for in the Club World Cup. We were playing brilliantly but I was on my knees and had no new tactical ideas left. That was why I left. There was no other reason.’

Having gone to New York in search of some peace and quiet, Pep nonetheless still had to cope with a certain amount of parting shots aimed at him from Barcelona.

During his sabbatical year the job offers poured in. His ex-colleague Txiki Begiristain, the director of football at Manchester City, was very insistent. He also met up in Paris with Roman Abramovich, who was prepared to do anything to lure Pep to Chelsea.

Bayern, too, were anxious to register an early interest and a delegation from Munich attended Pep’s last game with Barça, the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic in Madrid on May 25, 2012. The Catalan club won 3-0 that day.

In the event the Bayern delegation did not get a chance speak to Guardiola, but they made their interest clear during a meeting with his agent. It was just six days since the Munich team had suffered a painful defeat to Chelsea at home in the Champions League final, a game they had lost on penalties. It was another heavy blow for the Bavarian club at the end of a bitterly disappointing period. One week earlier, they had lost 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal [the German cup] final in Berlin. Their opponents had just won their second consecutive league title after a brilliant campaign, beating Bayern by eight points.

In the space of a few weeks Bayern had lost three titles: the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League. After enduring the agonising Champions League defeat, Heynckes promised his wife that he would only go on for one more year. The directors of Bayern felt the same way. A substitute had to be found.

From the start Pep was well disposed to the overtures from the Bavarian club.

A year before, in late July 2011, not long after a resounding 3-1 victory in the Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley, Barcelona competed in the Audi Cup in Munich. Pep liked the set-up at Säbener Strasse, despite the fact that it was smaller than Barça’s training ground and had fewer technical facilities. The Catalan was impressed and told Manel Estiarte privately: ‘I like this place. I could see myself coaching here one day.’

Estiarte was not too surprised by the comment. Pep had said something very similar a few months before, at Manchester United. The day after beating Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, Guardiola and Estiarte travelled to Manchester to watch their next opponent in action. It was May 4, 2011, and the pair sat together in the stands of Old Trafford watching Sir Alex Ferguson’s team beat Schalke 4-1. Once again Pep had turned to his friend and said: ‘I like this atmosphere. I could see myself coaching here one day.’

Guardiola has always felt a deep admiration, almost veneration, for the legendary teams and players of Europe. Estiarte knows this and was therefore not surprised by Pep’s eagerness to meet up for a chat with Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in June 2011. The four had a quick coffee together and it soon became clear that his feelings of admiration for the two Germans were reciprocated in equal measure.

Bayern had just appointed Jupp Heynckes to manage the second phase of their project, the initial stage having been overseen by Louis van Gaal. Guardiola, fresh from winning another Champions League title with Barça, was still totally committed to the Catalan club. At that moment none of them could have imagined how closely linked their destinies would become.

There is no truth in the rumour that Pep gave the Germans his phone number that day. This was a man who had won every trophy imaginable and whose football philosophy was admired the world over. He had no need to scribble his details on a scrap of paper.

‘It didn’t happen the way it has been portrayed in the press. We were there for a friendly against Bayern and we met Kalle [Rummenigge] and Uli [Hoeness] for a chat. I told them how much I admired both their current team and Bayern Munich as a club. It has always been one of the great clubs of European football. But I had never given a thought to coaching there. Nor was I thinking about it then. I was certainly not offering them my services. The fact that I ended up signing for the club a few years later was just a twist of fate. It wasn’t something I was planning or proposing that day.’

Indeed, as we now know, the situation would have changed dramatically by the spring of 2012. With four more titles (the Spanish and European Supercopas, the Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey) under his belt, an exhausted Guardiola was bidding a weary farewell to FC Barcelona.

Over in Munich meanwhile, the indefatigable Hoeness and Rummenigge knew that Heynckes had only one year left and had started to look for a replacement. The Copa del Rey final was the ideal opportunity to register their interest.

Within a few months, in October 2012, Pep would be giving Estiarte the news during one of their regular FaceTime chats.

‘Prepare yourself, Manel. I’ve chosen Bayern.’

These two men are well matched and had both been first-class global sportsmen and Olympic champions.

Guardiola was an extraordinary footballer who preferred to go unnoticed on the pitch. He positioned himself far from the opponents’ goal and played a pivotal role in driving the flow of the game. He was a player who was constantly planning his next move as he played the ball and everything he did was designed to open up spaces and support his team-mates. For Guardiola, success meant organising the team around him.

Estiarte was an exceptional athlete. Known as the Maradona of water polo, he was a prolific goal-scorer who possessed a killer instinct. He won every honour and trophy available, earned 578 caps, scored 1,561 goals for Spain and played in six Olympic Games. For seven consecutive years, from 1986 to 1992, he was voted No.1 in the world in his field.

The ease with which he seemed to single-handedly change the course of every game also earned him comparisons with Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all-time, and he was the top goal-scorer in four consecutive Olympic Games, as well as in all the other competitions he competed in. Despite this success, one thing still eluded him. Winning Olympic gold for Spain.

In the end it would take a change in philosophy rather than athletic prowess to secure this final prize. Having met and befriended Guardiola, Estiarte began to reflect upon his own approach to sport. He began to understand that while his individualistic playing style and single-minded determination to score had won him plenty of honours, only effective team-work would help him to secure that elusive gold medal. Estiarte decided he needed to make some changes.

Already a harsh self-critic, he examined every aspect of his own game and saw that his egotistical ideas had to go. Working co-operatively with his team-mates, he began to play a more supportive, enabling role. Almost inevitably, Estiarte lost the top spot in terms of goals scored, but his sacrifice changed the fortunes of the whole team and Spain won Olympic gold and the World Cup consecutively.

Working first at Barcelona with Pep and now assisting him at Bayern, Estiarte prefers to keep a low profile. He understands more than anybody the difficulty of reconciling personal ambitions with the needs of the collective.

Nowadays, the Maradona of water polo is known most of all for his intelligence and intuition. Always ready to offer players the benefit of his own experience, his primary role is to support and protect Pep as much as possible, rather like a gifted midfielder making a well-timed pass to his striker.

Pep told me how important Estiarte is to him: ‘Coaching a football team is a lonely job and that’s why I value loyalty above all else. When you hit the inevitable rough patch, you need to know who you can trust. Manel helps me enormously in a host of practical ways and is always happy to take on some of the more irksome parts of my job. All of that is vital to me, but more than anything it is his loyalty and emotional support I prize. When I’m going through a difficult period, maybe even struggling with self-doubt, he is there for me. And he’s there to enjoy the good times as well of course. It’s wonderful to have someone I can chat everything over with. He was an elite athlete himself, the best in his field, and although we come from different backgrounds, as sportsmen we have a lot in common. Manel has an unerring instinct. He knows immediately if things are going well or not. He is quick to sense the slightest change in atmosphere and can tell me with absolute certainty whether or not the players are behind us. If there’s a leak he’ll know about it. After five years working together he has learned to filter what he shares with me and I leave it to him to decide. I regularly say to him, ‘Manel, what’s your take on this?’ and can always rely on getting an honest, intelligent response. He interprets body language brilliantly, too, and knows exactly what a particular look or gesture means. The true greats all share this quality, this intuition. Other sportsmen do things mechanically, but to be truly great you need this extra special ability. And Manel has it in spades. That’s why I need him here working with me – all of that and the fact that we’re good friends as well. This is the Maradona of water polo, who has achieved everything in his chosen profession and yet still he is the first to roll up his sleeves and get on with the task in hand, no matter how trivial.’

It is October 2012 and in New York, Maria, Màrius and Valentina, Pep’s three children, are still struggling to learn English and adjust to life at their new school. The Catalan coach’s phone is ringing off the hook with job offers.

Txiki Begiristain’s Manchester City are still keen, and very insistent. Abramovich is deploying all his charm. He wants Pep and is prepared to mould the team to his specifications. The Germans, too, are determined, although their pitch is slightly lower key and to the point.

‘Prepare yourself Manel. I’ve chosen Bayern’

Choosing Bayern does not mean signing the contract immediately, however. It is just the first stage in the negotiations about financial terms and footballing philosophy.

Hoeness promises Pep from the start: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find the money.’

Bayern prefer to avoid debt and their policy is to ask their club members and sponsors to foot the bill for any new investment. In this case everyone is happy to invest in Pep.

They discuss their preferred playing styles and the kind of players the club will need. Not a lot more needs to be said. Pep, Uli and Kalle are on the same wavelength. The conversation goes so well it’s almost as if the three of them have a ball at their feet. They discuss Mario Gómez, Luiz Gustavo and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, and Pep insists that he wants to hold onto Toni Kroos.

By December they are ready to sign the contracts, and president Hoeness meets Guardiola at his home in New York. Guardiola then informs Manchester City, Chelsea and AC Milan that he is going elsewhere and before long Sky Italia breaks the news. Bayern’s hand has been forced and on January 16 the club hastily issues a statement. Unfortunately they also, rather insensitively, fail to inform Heynckes first. The incumbent coach feels badly let down. His friends Hoeness and Rummenigge had told him they were looking for a replacement, but not who it was going to be.

Over in Barcelona tongues are wagging and Pep’s critics accuse him of taking the soft option. Little do they know that back in Munich Jupp Heynckes’ metamorphosis from coach to living legend has just begun and that he is about to lead his team through a jaw-droppingly successful treble, setting the bar tremendously high for his successor.

4

‘THEY WILL BE AT THE VANGUARD OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.’

Munich, June 25, 2013

‘THE REJUVENATION OF Bayern Munich’s football is still ongoing. Phase three begins here.’

Paul Breitner, a Bayern and Real Madrid legend, is speaking from an office on Säbener Strasse. The conversation ranges from the late 1970s onwards as he outlines each stage of the regeneration project.

‘When Kalle [Rummenigge] and I played for Bayern under coach Pal Csernai, we used a certain system. And we stuck to that until 2008. Whether you call it 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-4 or 4-4-2 doesn’t really matter. The tactical ideas were the same. It was just that some of the moves were different. But that system is ancient history now. This is the 21st century and all of that should be consigned to the past.’

It was clear that things had to change at Bayern, but nobody knew exactly how to go about it. That is, until the arrival of Dutchman Louis van Gaal.

‘We knew that in the modern game you only win titles by playing the kind of football Barcelona espouse,’ Breitner points out.

‘Barça had started to play like a basketball team. They moved much more, kept circulating the ball and altering positions. They were aiming for high possession and liked to keep changing the rhythm of their game. It always felt like they had produced five hours of possession, when they had in fact only played for 90 minutes. That’s what modern football is all about. It’s what we need to be doing now and perhaps even for another decade. At least until another new idea comes along. But how were we going to bring our antiquated system up-to-date? Louis van Gaal was the answer we came up with and, happily, it was the right one because he completely transformed our football.’

For Breitner, Van Gaal represented the key to the first phase of the rejuvenation of Bayern’s game.

‘He changed a few positions and introduced possession-based football. We swapped Bayern’s traditional style for this high-possession game. But there was still no flexibility in terms of players’ positions and everyone had to stick rigidly to his own area. No one was allowed to wander out of his specified sphere of influence and we began to play one-touch football. We had to focus on passing the ball to each other. In some matches we ended up with 80% of possession, but there was no real rhythm or pace. After half an hour, everyone in the Allianz Arena would be yawning at this display of constant passing. I bet all of the 71,000 spectators could predict our every move. Our game was well executed but very, very predictable.’

Phase two would be in the hands of Jupp Heynckes.