Pep Confidential (42 page)

Considering all this, what justification is there for anyone at Bayern dreaming of winning a second treble? I put this question to no less an expert than Jupp Heynckes, who sizes up their chances. ‘Historically there have been a number of superb Bayern sides. Mythical players like Sepp Maier, Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller. And yet, even those guys didn’t manage it. At the moment the club is fighting for the treble and Pep has already won the league, but it’s still a very tough task, very, very tough.’

I catch up with Heynckes shortly after the Manchester game and ask him to evaluate Guardiola’s first year at Bayern: ‘I’ve known Pep since he played for Barça. He was devastating in the midfield and had a great touch and a superb vision of the game. He’s also someone I admire on a personal level and I’ve not been surprised at all by all he has achieved. I was in Spain for a number of years and am familiar with both his and Barça’s playing philosophy. I know how his teams play. We all knew the kind of changes he would make at Bayern, for example making the full-backs play inside, as he’s doing. The Germans have difficulty understanding this idea [he smiles] because it leaves the two centre-halves isolated and puts the full-backs right up alongside players like Kroos. It’s a move which German football has found a little shocking.

‘When we were up against Barça in the Champions League semi-finals last year people asked me if I was going to contact Pep for some advice, but I didn’t need to. I already knew Barça’s style well and have therefore not been surprised by what Pep is doing in Munich. He understands what sets Bayern apart: the organisation, the stature of the club and the quality of its staff. He fits the Bayern model perfectly because he, too, is a person of quality.’

I ask him if he believes that Guardiola’s innovations have been a step too far for German football culture. ‘Everyone has his own playing philosophy, his own approach to managing a team. Pep learned his trade from Johan Cruyff, following the Ajax and La Masia models. I, on the other hand, was born in Mönchengladbach and my mentor was Hennes Weisweiler. It’s probably true that my own journey has been very different from Pep’s but I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed watching Bayern’s football this year. These guys were my players last year and we won the treble, the first German club to do so in 50 years of Bundesliga history. This is a team with real character, with players who work brilliantly together and Pep is a first-class coach who established his pedigree at Barcelona. That’s why I love watching this Bayern side.’

Unfortunately just about now Bayern’s game starts to head into a downward spiral. There are three principal reasons for this: Thiago’s absence, the squad relaxing after winning their sixth trophy in 12 months and Pep’s decision to rest his regular starters. The deterioration is marked by Bayern’s first league defeat of the season, which takes place in Augsburg, always difficult territory for the team. The coach leaves Lahm, Robben and Ribéry at home and puts Rafinha, Dante, Boateng, Alaba, Götze and Müller on the bench. Starke is also absent, due to a problem with torn elbow ligaments.

Bayern’s unstoppable progress through the league comes to a halt. They have played 53 consecutive games unbeaten, from October 28, 2012 to April 5, 2014, with Heynckes in charge for the first 25 and Pep for the last 28. This is the first time in 66 games they have failed to score. In itself, of course, it’s no big deal. It’s just one defeat. But the signs of the team’s decompression are there. After their phenomenal league campaign they are now entirely focused on the Champions League, but it becomes increasingly difficult for Bayern to adjust precisely and correctly between when to compete at full tilt and when not to.

57

‘I’VE NEVER PLAYED LIKE THIS … NOT EVEN IN MY BOLDEST DAYS AT BARÇA.’

Munich, April 8, 2014

‘NOW IT’S OVER to them. They hold their own fate in their hands. I have given them every single tactical tool I can and it’s all on them now. I’m not even going to bother with a pre-match talk tomorrow. It’s not necessary because they know it all already. All I’m going to do is say “hi” and give them a hug. This is their moment.’

The last training session before their game against Manchester United is over. Within 24 hours the Allianz will play host to another great European tie – the return leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Wayne Rooney and his men. Pep has spent the last two days taking his men through his blueprint for their assault on the great English side. Currently, Guardiola’s sole objective is the defence of their title as European champions and he has made good his promise to discard any thought of breaking records. Although he had discussed this many times with Domènec Torrent, I wasn’t convinced that he would manage to carry this commitment through to his team’s performance on the pitch. But he has done just that, despite the fact that it has meant drawing against Hoffenheim and losing in Augsburg.

Focus on the Champions League has been to the detriment of their remaining league fixtures and Pep has already received some flak for his approach. The critics claimed that choosing to field a significantly weaker Bayern side was nothing less than a betrayal of the Bundesliga. ‘I completely understand how they feel,’ he confessed to me a couple of days before the United tie, ‘but we’ve won the league and right now my duty is to think about the Champions League.’

Several newspapers suggested that in taking this stance, Pep was putting Bayern’s possible treble at risk, but the coach wasn’t particularly bothered by the criticism. ‘Critical feedback is very healthy. In fact it’s vital for a great club like ours. I reckon that people think it offends me but it really doesn’t. Criticism means that you have to stay alert. That’s why I’m critical of myself and my players.’

Pep had left three of his key players, Lahm, Ribéry and Robben, at home for the Augsburg game on Saturday and gave the whole team a day off on Sunday. He wanted the squad fresh for their double session on Monday. He wanted to spend time going over his plans with his men and needed them as alert as possible. This would not, however, be an ordinary game plan.

Pep, Torrent, Planchart and the other analysts had examined Manchester United from every possible angle. They had produced an exhaustive analysis of their opponents which had then been perfected by the coach himself and by 9am on Monday the game plan and the line-up had been agreed. Pep used the morning and afternoon sessions to share these with his men. First they worked on the way the English team functions at both attacking and defensive dead-ball situations, watching these on video and then playing them out on the training pitch. Pep emphasised one thing again and again: at Old Trafford, United had managed only two genuinely dangerous moments – the one-on-one between Welbeck and Neuer, and the Vidic goal. Bayern’s objectives had been fixed from the outset of the preparation for this game: better awareness at set-plays and conceding even fewer chances at home than in Manchester.

By Monday morning the players already had a good idea as to the line-up. Javi Martínez and Schweinsteiger were banned and Thiago was injured (the player had left for Barcelona to receive treatment for his injured knee from Doctor Cugat). What did take the players by surprise was the game plan Pep laid out for them on Tuesday, just after lunch. ‘We’re going to use a 2-3-3-2.’

The team were delighted. Pep then read out the team sheet. Neuer; Boateng, Dante; Lahm, Kroos, Alaba; Robben, Götze, Ribéry; Müller and Mandžukić. Not only did he give them the starting XI far ahead of normal, but had also shown them a new way of attacking this game via four separate, quite distinct, lines. Given that Bayern would probably be attacking for 75% of the match and in the opposition half, Pep wanted to populate the back line with the two centre-halves and have the two full-backs push right up next to Kroos.

He had spoken with Lahm and detailed what he needed. Although the line-up made him look like a full-back, that was not what Pep wanted from the captain. Instead, he was to play as a midfielder in the line of three with Kroos and Alaba. Moreover, given Kroos’ tendency to move to the left, Lahm would need to squeeze in and occupy the middle of the line, as if he were the
pivote
. If Kroos moved left, Alaba was to push on higher, on the left touchline. Of course, if United were to get the ball in an attacking situation and Bayern were defending correctly, then both Lahm and Rafinha would need to double back and occupy normal full-back positions in a defensive line of four. In front of these three midfielders, Götze would have total liberty of movement. In the construction of attacking play he should find himself at the tip of a diamond shape linking with Alaba, Kroos and Lahm. When the ball moved high up the pitch he would be free to take on the role of another, anarchic striker. It meant that Pep had unified his most reliable passers in the middle of the pitch. Robben and Ribéry were to play on the wings. In the opposition half, they would be the sole occupants of the wide space – not Lahm or Alaba. ‘Arjen and Franck: you’ll have to be wing-backs in this match. You’ll drop back to the middle of the pitch to pick the ball up and bring it up the wing. Tomorrow that’s going to be your responsibility exclusively because the full-backs are playing as midfielders.’

Hours later Pep would confess: ‘I’ve never played like this, with the wingers playing as full-backs. Not even in my boldest days at Barça. It’s completely new for me, too, but it just seems right. And they’re going to do it perfectly. I see it in Arjen and Franck’s eyes. I can feel it and see it in the way they handle themselves. Müller’s going to do brilliantly too. You can just see it.’

Müller is to be in the front line with Mandžukić. Two centre-forwards whose job is to get in between the United centre-backs and the full-backs. It’s an idea Pep has often discussed with his backroom staff. ‘Two guys occupying four defenders. Müller and Mandžukić need to tie up the entire United back four. If they manage it, think of the space that Robben and Ribéry will have to receive the ball wide.’

Rafinha, however, will lose out in the process and the Brazilian will not be in the starting line-up on a day when the Brazil national coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, will be in attendance.

For the first time this season, Pep announces the line-up and the game plan the day before the match. They then run through the relevant moves in the training session. The starters wear green bibs and line up in a 2-3-3-2 formation, whilst Pizarro copies Rooney’s likely moves and Javi Martínez and Van Buyten take on the roles of Vidic and Ferdinand. The closed session is taking place on training pitch No.1, far from prying eyes and Pep takes the time to run over what he wants one more time.

The ball needs to reach Ribéry or Robben quickly and directly, right out on the touchline, while the two strikers occupy the back four. If the wingers have only one marker then they are to go at him and try to reach the byeline. If they are double marked when the ball gets to them, they’ve to return it to the nearest midfielder, Lahm or Alaba, or look to hit Götze or the two strikers with a pass.

After each of Pep’s repeated explanations, the players play out the scenario, at full tilt, on the training pitch. They try to pin the surrogate Manchester United back line into their penalty area. Guardiola reckons that United will come out at the Allianz with the idea of closed-ranks defending, looking to use Rooney in a successful counter-attack.

As the afternoon wears on, the players practise again and again with the coach suggesting multiple variants for each situation. One of his technical team comments: ‘He’s explained as much as it’s possible to explain. They understand it all and now all they have to do is put it into practice.’

Some positional-play drills close the training session, although Pep bans Robben from taking part – the player had taken a kick to his leg the day before and Pep doesn’t want to take any risks. Just the week before, the second-choice goalkeeper Tom Starke had been badly hurt. In addition, both Thiago and Shaqiri, who was injured in Augsburg, are absent. ‘It’s such a shame not to have Thiago on the bench. He’s the guy to get us out of trouble when things get tricky,’ says Guardiola.

The nerves are beginning to set in.

‘My stomach’s in knots,’ Estiarte tells me. ‘I can’t eat anything the day before these kinds of matches. We’ve worked hard all year for exactly this kind of game.’

Manuel Neuer is also keen to share. ‘Bring it on. Match day is always better than the day before. You spend some time at the team hotel and then you’re on the bus, you get to the stadium, warm up and, before you know it, the game has started. But the day before just drags by.’

Neuer deputises for Robben in the positional-play exercises. As always on the day before a Champions League game, Lorenzo Buenaventura orders only two repetitions of five minutes in the drills – not the normal three reps. This is to avoid over-tiring the players just in case the next day’s game goes to extra time. They do the exercises brilliantly and it all ends with an unexpected shout from Pep: ‘That’s it! If we play like this tomorrow, we’re through!’

Neuer has just demonstrated his mastery of the ball at his feet and I tell Pep about the recent Twitter story that Neuer had asked to play in the midfield in light of Thiago, Schweinsteiger and Javi’s absences. Pep laughs. ‘It’s not such a ridiculous idea, not at all. Manu is capable of anything.’

We are left alone together on the training pitch and I ask him if he is feeling the nerves as well.

‘Yes of course, but not too much. If we play the 2-3-3-2 well, we’ll win. We need to score from the second-ball actions. Remember what I told you in August about what I learned from the Barcelona-Chelsea match in 2012? Well, this is the day we have to do what I didn’t manage that day for Barça. Seek out the rebounds in the box and punish the second ball wherever it lands in the penalty area. They know everything they need to know and are capable of doing this. I’m not doing a pre-match talk. They know it all already. All we need is for them to go out and play with courage and do what they do best. If they do that, then we’re through. This is the players’ moment.’