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The Story Behind The Infamous Mourinho- Guardiola Relationship by kratosonofzeus: 12:42pm On May 25, 2016 |
The two men were once close when they worked
together at Barcelona, but they later fell out
in spectacular style during the Portuguese’s time as
coach of Real Madrid in 2011
A rivalry renewed. With Pep Guardiola to take over at
Manchester City in the summer and Jose
Mourinho set to be unveiled by Manchester United,
one of football’s famous feuds is ready for
another chapter.
Guardiola and Mourinho worked together for four
years at Barcelona. The Catalan was a
midfield lynchpin back then; the Portuguese an
assistant to Bobby Robson and later Louis van
Gaal.
A lot has happened since. With Van Gaal relieved of
his duties by United on Monday, Mourinho
is waiting in the wings to replace his former mentor
in the Old Trafford hotseat. No love lost
there. And across the city divide, the 53-year-old will
clash once again with a former friend and
recent foe in Guardiola.
Back in their time together at Camp Nou, Pep and
Jose shared a mutual admiration. Guardiola,
although still a player, was considered a future coach
even then and was known as one of the
game’s deep thinkers. And the Catalan admired
Mourinho’s analytical approach to football. At
the training ground, the two men spent long hours
talking tactics.
When Frank Rijkaard left Barcelona in 2008,
Mourinho wanted the coach’s job and in his
Powerpoint presentation to Blaugrana officials in
Lisbon, he outlined his blueprint to former
vice-president Marc Ingla. And in that meeting, he
named Guardiola as one of his possible
assistants.
But Barca had other ideas. Txiki Begiristain, sporting
director at the time, favoured a move for
Guardiola and the Catalan was appointed as first-
team coach after a sole season at Barca B.
Mourinho was not amused.
Pep’s spectacular spell at Barca began with a treble
triumph in 2008-09, but in his second
season the former club captain crossed paths with
Mourinho in the Champions League – and
the Portuguese had the last laugh by eliminating the
Blaugrana in the semi-finals with Inter en
route to the title.
The Portuguese infuriated Barca fans – and some of
the players, including goalkeeper Victor
Valdes – by celebrating wildly on the Camp Nou pitch,
but before the game Guardiola had
spoken highly of his former colleague. “I didn’t know
he would make it this far,” he said in the
pre-match press conference. “If I had known
Mourinho had this talent as a coach, I would have
gone and told the president.”
Mourinho’s Inter went on to beat Van Gaal’s Bayern
Munich in the final at the Santiago
Bernabeu and after the match, the Portuguese
announced that he would be leaving the Italian
club. His destination? Real Madrid.
In January, Pep and Jose sat together at the Ballon
d’Or ceremony and all seemed well. “We
spoke, commented on the gala, the pianist, who was
really good, we gave each other a couple
of elbows and nothing more,” the Catalan joked.
By that point, they had faced each other in just one
Clasico clash – an outrageously one-sided
5-0 win for the Blaugrana at Camp Nou in late
November. But things later came to a head as
Barca and Madrid met five times in a tumultuous 17-
day period in April.
After a tense 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in La
Liga on April 16, they met again four
days later in the final of the Copa del Rey at Mestalla.
And following a tight first half, Pedro
thought he had broken the deadlock when he latched
onto a pass from Lionel Messi and fired
past Iker Casillas.
However, his strike was ruled offside. Guardiola
waved his finger in disapproval, but replays
showed the officials’ decision was correct as Pedro
was indeed a fraction beyond the last
Madrid defender, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Real went on
to win in extra time as Cristiano Ronaldo
headed home from an Angel Di Maria cross.
In a packed press room after the match, Guardiola
appeared to question the decision. “The
assistant must have great eyesight to spot that Pedro
was two centimetres offside,” the
Catalan coach quipped.
But six days later, ahead of the Champions League
semi-final first leg clash between the two
teams at the Bernabeu, Mourinho mocked the words
of his Barca counterpart.
“We have started a new cycle,” he began. “Up until
now there was a very small group of
coaches who didn’t talk about referees and a very
large group, in which I am included, who
criticise referees. Now, with Pep’s comments, we
have started a new era with a third group, in
which there is only him, that criticises the referee
when he makes correct decisions. This is
completely new to me.”
The Portuguese’s provocations had finally got to
Guardiola and with a Champions League semi-
final between the two teams ahead, the former Barca
boss chose to react this time with a
statement of intent – in the Bernabeu press room of
all places.
“Senor Mourinho has permitted himself the luxury of
calling me Pep, so I will call him Jose,”
Guardiola said. “Which one is your camera, Jose? All
of them, I suppose… Tomorrow at 8.45pm
we face each other on the pitch. He has won the
battle off the pitch. If he wants his own
personal Champions League trophy away from the
pitch, let him take it home and enjoy it.
“In this room, Mourinho is the f***ing chief, the
f***ing boss. He knows all about this and I
don’t want to compete with him in here. I’d just like
to remind him that I worked with him for
four years [at Barcelona]. He knows me and I know
him.
“If he prefers to value the views of the journalist
friends who take their information in a drip
feed from Florentino Perez more than the
relationship we had for four years, then, that’s his
choice. I try to learn from Jose on the pitch, but I
prefer to learn as little as possible from him
off the pitch.”
When he returned to his hotel dining room, the
Barca players stood to greet Guardiola with a
round of applause. And on the pitch a day later, the
Blaugrana beat Madrid 2-0 to leave the
Portuguese complaining about referees and
dreaming up conspiracy theories in his infamous
“Por que?” (“Why?”) rant against the Catalan club.
The following season, Mourinho’s Madrid won La Liga
(still the only team to beat a Pep side to
a league title) and Guardiola stepped down to take a
sabbatical at the end of the 2011-12
campaign. He was tired of life at Barca by now and,
although he would not say so, the
constant clashes with the Portuguese had taken their
toll.
The two men met once more in Mourinho’s first
game at Bayern in 2013 as the German side
beat Chelsea on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup, but
they have not faced each other again
until now. And this time, their rivalry will be
intensified again as they coach in the same city as
managers of Manchester’s two rival clubs.
So even though Pep won’t want it, expect more
fireworks between Guardiola and Mourinho
starting this summer. It is bound to be fascinating. 1 Like
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