Guardiola, the last wall to the epic of Madrid

“We can’t beat history,” he pronounced. Guardiola. The truth is that she already won him. Manchester City, led by the Catalan coach, arrives on Real Madrid’s European path with the firm intention of putting an end to it.

First, because in eastern Manchester the hunger for the Champions League is perhaps greater. Second, because there are few specialists in the world of football capable of afflicting the damage that Guardiola has done to those of Chamartín.

City are chasing their holy grail. The dream station. The biggest European title. A Champions League that has become the great objective to definitively evolve as an institution. They caressed it last year, with a lost final in Porto against Chelsea. They are their second semifinals in a row and at the club they look more mature than ever, capable of facing and digesting moments of suffering like the one that touched them at the Wanda Metropolitano.

In Madrid, on the other hand, the feeling is that their religion is comebacks. After knocking out PSG and Chelsea, a great favorite and the defending champion, thanks to Benzema and an epic performance at the Bernabéu, the Whites once again feel capable of anything. A perception that is far in Manchester.

England sees the ‘sky blues’ as great favorites, especially seeing that in their rival there will be a minimum of seven starters who already played in the last precedent against both: the 2020 round of 16 where City of Pep imposed his law.

Guardiola left for training thoughtful. After speaking at length with Txiki Begiristain Y manel estiarte on the edge of the lawn, he isolated himself with the wisdom of Juanma Lillo in a parallel training camp.

Many meters from the press that was watching the session they started their conversation, with their gaze nailed to the floor sharing gestures and theories. Several of the keys that will decipher the Etihad match were to be displayed there.

On paper, the biggest will be on the right side of his defense. Guardiola does not have troops, something that perhaps would not be so problematic if Vinicius did not pass through there.

Joao Cancelo is suspended, while Walker and Stones did not practice with the team. Pep admitted that until Tuesday morning he will not know anything. If one of the two must force, the most likely seems to be Stones.

In case no one arrives, Zinchenko either Ake they will have to be the invention on the right wing. Urgent solutions to a knife game, where excuses will not work. Although if there is someone who has shown himself capable of neutralizing the white faith with the necessary inventions, that is Pep Guardiola.

19 duels contemplate the trajectory, on the benches, of Santpedor against Real Madrid. 11 of them have ended with a triumph for Pep. There are only two teams he has faced more times (Manchester United and Arsenal), and also two he has beaten more often (Burnley and Arsenal). He has merit, considering that 15 of Guardiola’s 19 appearances against Madrid were when he was in charge of Barça.

Although between Pep and Madrid it has not been so much the what, but the how. From 2-6 with the birth of Messi false nine, passing by 5-0 to Mourinho and finishing seven games unbeaten as a Blaugrana at the Bernabéu.

An almost unblemished record, which got dirty in his crossing with Bayern. Also in the Champions League semis, also against Ancelotti’s Madrid, Pep lost his duel against Madrid, although today this seems a very distant past.

In the present that concerns him, Guardiola was thoughtful on the pitch and sharp before the microphone. He gave no respite to the Madrid press, perhaps remembering the image he had of the City match at the Wanda Metropolitan. Perhaps one more facet of the imposing personality that has made Pep the great antidote against Real Madrid.