Pep Guardiola: Painful return

(Baonghean.vn) - Despite bringing a golden period to Barca, Pep Guardiola still had to leave in frustration. So, every time he returns to Now Camp to face his "old love", many emotions surge.

On this return trip, the applause from the stands will certainly be significantly reduced when he and Man City enter the Now Camp (01:45, 20/10). Instead, there may be hateful looks and anger that will cause the foggy country team to accept a loss of their lives, and Pep will be in more pain when leaving the field.Even though there is affection from fans who love him, and from former students who are grateful to him, the cracks during and after the "love affair" that broke up between him and Barca may overshadow everything.

Despite his many achievements with Barca, Pep Guardiola still had to leave in frustration. Photo: Internet

Remember, at Barca, Pep is expected to operate not only as a head coach but also be given other privileges. Therefore, the Catalan military leader has enough motivation to unleash his creativity to bring Barca to the top, to become "the greatest team in the world".

During his 4 years leading the team at Now Camp (from 2008 to 2012), Pep not only succeeded in helping Barca win 2 Champions League titles (2009 and 2011), but he also left behind the tiki-taka football philosophy that is now being used very well by the successor Luis Enrique at the Catalan team. However, the pressure and serious conflicts with President Sandro Rosell made Pep "feel tired as if he had to walk on his knees, and importantly, I had no new tactical ideas to apply to Barca". Pep had to leave to renew himself, to find a new destination even though Barca was still playing with brilliant form at that time.

Since Pep left Catalonia, Barca has remained a powerful team with a different level of class. However, coach Luis Enrique has changed a lot in both tiki-taka style and personnel when they added Neymar, Suarez and a series of other stars, alongside Pep's former students such as Messi, Iniesta, Busquets, Mascherano, Pique. They are still the core of Luis Enrique's squad and always support him absolutely in any situation.

That is Pep's greatest pride at Barca. But, those feelings will stay out of the 90 minutes. And of course, Pep will not be completely comfortable when stepping onto the Nou Camp grass on this return trip. Because, surely, the Barca leadership will no longer have any respect for him when President Maria Bartomeu has just publicly criticized Pep for luring goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to Man City. Pep must have anticipated this, but tomorrow morning, he will feel that bitterness more clearly.

Pep is gone but Barca still has class with many changes and is in good form. Photo: Internet

Obviously, the English have the right to expect that with his understanding of his old team, Pep Guardiola is expected to help Man City score points against the reigning La Liga champions. However, we should not put too much faith in him when Pep's team is showing signs of declining form with a series of 3 consecutive matches without knowing the taste of victory. Pep also did not have any joy when he visited Now Camp last time. Even with a powerful Bayern Munich, Pep could not defeat his old team and was defeated by Barca 3-0 in the semi-finals of the Champions League 2014-2015 season. Not to mention, Barca is on the rise, the "soul" Messi has "fired" again.

Man City is at risk of once again "raising the white flag" along with Pep's pain at Now Camp. Photo: Internet

Is it true that Pep’s return to Man City at this time is not the right time for him when everything seems to be in the past when Pep has new joy? But what can he do when the word “fate” with Barca helped him become famous and “fate” forced him to leave and arranged for his “new love” to be in the same group with his “old love”. It makes him hurt once again on the day of his return.

Kim Thuy