Messi (81 page)

And so April arrived, a key month in a season in which Real Madrid were ahead in the domestic competition and Barcelona were in the Champions League semi-finals. Chelsea were their opponents. The technical staff at Chelsea were surprised by the fact that Messi, caught in the English side’s defensive trap, only managed three high-intensity passages of play throughout the whole match. Chelsea didn’t play 4-5–1 as suspected, but 4-4–1; Raul Meireles was the eleventh man stuck like a lamppost on the left-hand side of the pitch from where Messi looked to start his runs, and with the sole brief of preventing him from doing so.

Three days later in the
clásico
at the Nou Camp the league was going to be decided. With four games to play, Madrid were four points ahead.

According to Diego Torres in his book
Prepárense para perder
, the Madrid players remarked that they were surprised at how Messi had played, mostly in fits and starts, as if he was protecting an injury. ‘The local hero walked about, looked around, pondered the situation. Was he saving himself? For what? Something was amiss in the Guardiola home and Madrid turned up with Cristiano at his peak.’ It was Mourinho’s second victory in a
clásico
, following his victory in the Copa del Rey final the previous season.

Pep’s decision to start Tello and leave Piqué, Cesc, Pedro and Alexis on the bench provoked a discussion in the dressing room. What did Guardiola have in mind with this decision? Was he, as some players suspected, looking to punish someone who wasn’t being as obedient as he should have been? Cuenca was in the starting line-up against Chelsea, a decision deemed by many as yet another error of judgement. Look at the bench.

In the dressing room Pedro was in tears, as was Leo, who had already scored 63 goals that season but sent his penalty, which would have made it 3–1, crashing against the woodwork, as well as hitting the post on another occasion. ‘It was a final that we wanted to play in and it got away from us,’ recalls the Canary Islands-born winger. ‘And it was the game where perhaps I saw him most upset and hurt, I don’t know, maybe because he missed the penalty or perhaps because he was not going to be in the final. I suppose everything has an effect.’

Pep called a meeting with the president for the following morning. Suspecting that he was leaving, Leo sent various affectionate text messages to his coach trying to persuade him not to. Pep has them to this day.

But the small wounds that had been appearing in the previously thick skin of the squad had become infected.

Two days later, Pep told his players in the training ground that he was leaving.

The players were not sure till that moment if Pep really would go. But, after receiving confirmation while they were already on the training ground, the conversation turned to the future. Who was going to take his place? After the session, the group knew that Tito Vilanova would be taking charge of the side, which came as a relief; the best possible solution. ‘After losing the most successful coach in the history of the club, the fact that you have someone so close to the club available was really good for us,’ says Mascherano, who remembers the feeling of shock at that very light training session.

After training, Pep accompanied by the president, Sandro Rosell, and the sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, announced his decision at a press conference. Leo wasn’t there but Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Valdés, Cesc, Piqué and Pedro all attended.

‘Time always wears you out and I am worn out,’ said Guardiola. ‘I am empty and need to refill. I sincerely believe that the next man can give things that I cannot. To sit here every three days a coach has to be strong, has to have life, passion. I have to get that back and I can only do that by resting, distancing myself, because I believe we would have hurt each other, that is my perception … I know what I’m leaving behind me but I believe I am doing what is right for me.’

‘Leo’s here! Leo’s here! The demonstrations of affection I have received these past days have been great,’ concluded Guardiola when asked about the absence of the Argentinian.

Messi was not sure what was happening after the training session. ‘He was furious that Pep was announcing his departure and he wasn’t there,’ says Piqué. ‘There was a breakdown in communication in the dressing room.’ The four captains (Valdés, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol) got the news about the press announcement and started to pass it around but it didn’t reach everyone. What’s more, it was initially thought that only the four spokesmen of the team would attend. Those who went were surprised not to see him there and that’s where the confusion arose. As soon as Leo and Mascherano noted the presence of some players as well as the senior ones, they knew that their absence would cause speculation.

A few hours later, ‘the Flea’ posted the following message on Facebook. ‘I want to thank Pep with all my heart for everything that he has done for my professional career and for my life. Due to how emotional I feel, I preferred not to attend Pep’s press conference. I
wanted to be far from the press above all, because I know they will be looking for the sadness on the faces of the players, and this is something that I have decided not to show.’

There remained one more thing to do. Barcelona were facing Espanyol in their thirty-seventh league match of the season with everything already decided. The club took the opportunity of guaranteeing that the last match at the Camp Nou would be a homage to Pep. Leo Messi scored all the game’s four goals. ‘The Flea’ pointed towards Guardiola after his first, directly from a free-kick. Two more went in.

Before the game, Leo told his dad that he felt sad about the departure of Pep; ‘the Flea’ feels every big change like a little mourning. He recognised he had done lot of good things for him and the side, and was thinking he deserved a little public gesture. Just before the fourth goal, Javier Mascherano told Messi it would be a good idea to approach Pep if he scored again.

And his fourth goal of the game duly arrived. Leo ran towards the bench to embrace his coach.

If the hug he gave Ronaldinho was the embrace of a generational swap and from a boy who wanted to thank his mentor for looking after him, that day at the Camp Nou the fans saw a gesture of gratitude to his boss for having understood his needs. ‘Thanks for everything,’ Pep told Messi in his ear. ‘I did it to thank him and because that’s how it came out,’ said Leo after the game.

There was still time to win the Copa del Rey, against Athletic de Bilbao, 3–0, with another goal from Messi, the second of the game. After winning the fourteenth title of that era, Pep said again to ‘the Flea’: ‘thanks Leo. We’ve won loads, but without you we wouldn’t have won half of them.’

Leo went off with the national side a few days later and from there had some words to say about Guardiola. ‘I was surprised and sad when I knew he was leaving. He will always have my respect and admiration. Now a new stage begins, we hope to continue in the same manner. Guardiola always said that everything he did was together with Tito Vilanova. We hope things go well for Tito for the benefit of everyone.’

Leo Messi and Pep Guardiola did not speak again. They lost contact.

They saw each other briefly at the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in January 2013. They greeted each other but little more. Nor did they come across one another when Barcelona played against Bayern Munich in a friendly in the late summer of 2013. ‘I haven’t seen him,’ said Leo after the game.

Players and coaches do not have to behave like father and son. They don’t even need to love each other.

But Pep probably needs another warm embrace from Leo. He did everything for him. And surely Leo would want to offer him some sign of affection and gratitude.

The distance, the coldness, can only be explained by the need for a period of decompression, of distance, after four intense years. ‘A certain amount of time has to pass, don’t you think?’ suggests Joan Laporta. ‘With the benefit of time, you realise just what he has done, the success he has had, who he has had at his side. Top competition brings with it a mental pressure way above what is normal. And at the end of it you need time to see it with new eyes. There’s affection from both sides, I’m sure.’

Pep will always remember that he had the best player in history under his guidance. And he knows that Leo loves him.

And that Messi doesn’t know how to say it.

Both are conscious of the fact that they have been mutually helpful to each other. And when they retire, or when they meet again, at some time or another they will embrace again. And there will be no need to say anything else.

But with Pep gone, Leo was now mostly worried about how things would go under a new coach.

  
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Where Is Leo Heading?

1. Cristiano Ronaldo