Guardiola coached 1,000 games: The most important trophy in his coaching career is the La Liga Champions League

Why do I mention a 0:0 draw in the Spanish fourth-division league 18 years ago? Because it was Guardiola's first game as head coach.

Today, he is one of the most acclaimed and accomplished coaches in football history. This Sunday, he will usher in the 1,000th game of his coaching career, when Manchester City will face the defending Premier League champion Liverpool at home.

He has won the Triple Crown with Barcelona and Manchester City, won the league and cup doubles in three countries, and won the Champions League trophy three times. But you might be surprised to learn which of his many accolades he treasured most.

In Guardiola's view, the success he led Barcelona B in the 2007-08 season has been overlooked. During that time, they spent endless hours traveling around Catalonia in buses. The pitches were either muddy or old-fashioned artificial turf, with the ball squeaking and bouncing on it, making it impossible to play tiki-taka.

But for Guardiola, this started everything that followed.

1

On September 2, 2007, the Premia de Mar football stadium was almost full.

The local team Premia was playing in the Spanish third division, the fourth tier of Spanish football. Players at this level usually have full-time jobs outside of football.

The attendance rate of the Spanish League C is not very high. If a game of Premia can attract 1,000 spectators, it will be considered very lively, and the number of spectators in attendance that day exceeded 2,000.

Barcelona B team made its first appearance in the Spanish League C after experiencing the trough of last season. They had just been relegated from the third tier, which was extremely unfamiliar territory for them, and it was this failure that prompted the club's top brass, including then-president Joan Laporta and sporting director Tikšić Begiristain, to begin a search for a new manager.

The name of Pep Guardiola, who was 36 years old at the time, was at the top of Begiristain's candidate list.

In the 1990s, Begiristain and Guardiola played side by side at Barcelona under Cruyff, so Begiristain respected Guardiola very much. He initially wanted the former midfielder to take up a position in his department, but plans changed when he learned Guardiola had obtained coaching qualifications and was interested in coaching.

Laporta and Begiristain didn't want to miss his debut, so they attended the Ocean Awards ceremony with other Barcelona executives. Everyone was looking forward to the performance of this rising star in the coaching world.

"I remember everything about that game clearly, I replayed it over and over in my mind." Premia head coach Quim Ayatz recalled. Ayatz is an experienced coach in Catalan football and is now the director of the NAISE Football Academy in the Beiratra area of ​​Barcelona.

"We have an exciting team, so the fans want to come and see us play, but Guardiola's presence makes the day special."

Ayatz said he only learned how serious Guardiola was about his new role a week before the game, when Premia played their final pre-season friendly.

"We were playing against a low-level team - Villasal de Dalt, nothing special. Five minutes into the game, my assistant came over and told me: 'Quim, Guardiola is inspecting us in the stands.'" Ayaz recalled.

"Nowadays, it's easier to get information on opponents and players across the league, but before, you had no choice but to drive every weekend to the games you wanted to watch. Guardiola did that the week before he played us."

Guardiola and Tito Vilanova The latter served as his assistant coach (they had been roommates at La Masia's youth academy) and the hiring of analysts Domenech Torrent and Carles Planchat, both former managers of the Catalan regional football team, gave Guardiola the expertise he needed to enter uncharted territory.

Ayaz said: "Pep chose a highly competitive league for his first coaching job, which is very brave."

"Although he is still very immature, he has gathered a group of people around him who can provide him with valuable advice. All his staff know Catalan football well."

When Guardiola took over the Barcelona coaching job the next season, he took all three members of the coaching staff with him. Vilanova succeeded Guardiola as Barcelona coach in July 2012, but died of throat cancer in 2014 at the age of 45. Torrent and Planchart later also worked with Guardiola at Bayern Munich and Manchester City respectively.

2

Barcelona B team showed a strong desire to attack in its first game under Guardiola's coaching. The new coach adopted a high-pressing tactical system, which caught the home team Premia off guard. Center back Xavi Torres had the best chance for Guardiola's side in the first half, but his shot hit the woodwork.

"High pressing has always been one of the principles of Guardiola's coaching career," Ayaz said. "We did not expect that they would press to this extent. Our goalkeeper frequently conceded the ball during the offensive organization stage. We had to make some adjustments during the halftime break, and then the situation of the game completely changed."

After the halftime break, the game was completely controlled by Premia. They found a way out of Barcelona B's pressure and began to gradually gain the upper hand. With five minutes left in the game, the score was still 0:0. Ayaz's team won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Carmelo Cortez (known as Melo) stepped forward to take the penalty.

Mello has played for many semi-professional teams for more than ten years and has now retired. The 42-year-old works as a bus driver between Mataro and Barcelona.

"That free kick has always stuck in my mind," he said. "It was almost in the middle of their goal and my only thought was to kick the ball as hard as I could towards their goalkeeper. The ball went off like a rocket and I immediately felt like it was a good kick - but it hit "Everything was prepared for Guardiola's grand debut that day. If he scored at that time, it would definitely ruin the feast."

Melo claims to be a die-hard Barcelona fan and has gone to watch away games many times. His childhood idol is Guardiola.

"I played as a defensive midfielder when I was a kid, when Guardiola was at Barcelona, ​​and I've been a die-hard Guardiola fan my whole life," he said.

"I joke with my friends about that game from time to time - maybe I could have changed his career."

3

Guardiola's first starting lineup as coach was as follows: goalkeeper Oyel Olazabal; defender Farley, David Korcoles, Xavi Torres, Victor Esparsandin; the midfield trio of Dimas Delgado, Victor Sanchez and Dani Toribio; forwards Eneco Fernandez, Emilio Guerra and the diminutive winger then known as Pedrito.

Today we are more familiar with the name Pedro - this winger has won the Champions League, La Liga and Premier League championships, and also won the World Cup and European Cup trophies on behalf of the Spanish team. Sergio Busquets and Thiago Alcantara also played for Barcelona B in the 2007-08 season.

A moment between Guardiola and Pedro surprised Ayaz, and the game ended with a score of 0:0.

"Towards the final whistle, Pedro collapsed on the court and claimed a foul on us in front of our bench," Ayatz said.

“I still remember Guardiola walking up to him, grabbing him by the shirt, picking him up like a chicken, and yelling: ‘You better run and defend because they’re going to attack us!’ Pedro forgot about the foul and was like, "There were rumors at the time that Pedro might not even be able to stay in Barcelona B," Melo said, "but I guess Guardiola admired him when they started working together - and it turns out Guardiola was right. "

4

In April 2008, Guardiola's third child was born, and Laporta visited the family in the hospital.

After congratulating them, the president asked to speak alone. Laporta told Guardiola that they were considering promoting him to the first team. Frank Rijkaard's team had been struggling, and the Dutchman was determined to leave.

"Promote me? You don't have the guts. Guardiola replied.

On May 8, the day after Barcelona lost 1:4 to the new La Liga champion Real Madrid, Barcelona officially announced the news: Rijkaard is about to leave, and the 37-year-old Guardiola will take over next season.

But Barcelona Team B's season is not over yet.

Despite some slight start, Guardiola's team finally reached the top of the Spanish Serie C. They have 83 points, 1 point more than the second-placed Sant'Andre, who is also the only team to score more goals than them (San Andre's 74 goals, Barcelona B team 70 goals). . Barcelona B lost only 5 games in 38 games, the fewest of all teams.

This meant that they qualified for the promotion play-offs that year, defeating the Castillo CF team from the Canary Islands and the UD Barbastro team from Aragon in the semi-finals and finals, thus locking them in. A seat in the Spanish third division.

It was June 2008, and it was a foregone conclusion that Guardiola would embark on a journey to higher goals next season.

Guardiola often said in conversations with friends: "Never forget the most important trophy of my career. "

The scene fell into silence. Some people may think of the Triple Crown in the 2008-09 season, or the UEFA Champions League in 2011. Then, leading Manchester City to win the Premier League championship with 100 points in 2018, or 2 What will happen if Manchester City wins the Champions League trophy for the first time in 2023?

In the end, the reward will come

"The most important trophy in my coaching career is the Spanish League Championship trophy won with Barcelona B team. "

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