Barcelona View Pep Guardiola's Manchester City Differently Ahead of New Clash
Barcelona have played Manchester City four times in the last three years, but when the sides meet on Wednesday night, it will not be like the other occasions.
One of the Catalans’ favourite sons, Pep Guardiola, is back at Camp Nou. He returned once before, in 2015 while in charge of Bayern Munich, and his presence at City has changed the way the English club are viewed by Blaugrana eyes.
From Premier League rich-kids to an English Barcelona, Guardiola’s presence has given City a gravitas that was lacking before. Now they are a team that has to be taken seriously.
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Of course, former Barcelona chiefs Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano have been working away in Manchester for nearly half a decade, so it isn’t just a sudden change, it’s a careful, structured one, but Guardiola is the figurehead City’s project needs. A coach they tried to sign before he moved to the Bundesliga.
Guardiola leads a club that now has a strong Catalan presence throughout, something they have been working towards since Begiristain and Soriano arrived, in preparation for Pep’s eventual arrival.
Newspapers and radio stations have sent journalists to Manchester permanently to cover City now Pep is in charge. One of them is Diario Sport’s Pol Ballus, who spoke to Bleacher Report about Guardiola’s impact.
“The influence of Catalan people at the club is important. It has been like this in recent years, but it’s true that Catalans have becoming more important and present this season,” he explained.
“The communications team have brought people in who speak Catalan. In each press conference, they save a space for one question in Catalan and another in Spanish. There’s always a translator there to translate the questions and answers to and from Pep into English for the local journalists.
“The fans love Pep’s style. City is a club without a winning history, or a fixed tradition of how to play and win games. They have had various managers, but Pep is the first to bring a true identity to the team. The play is very colourful, with domination of the ball, and there’s a lot of innovation. Fans see it as sophisticated football and love it so far.”
Although recent results have shown it will take time for City to perform to the level the coach demands—two draws and a defeat—there is a confidence about the club that is higher than at any point previous.
That is reflected in the belief that they can improve on their previous results against Barcelona, which have seen the Citizens beaten on every occasion.
City were beaten 4-1 on aggregate in 2014 (0-2, 2-1), 3-1 on aggregate in 2015 (1-2, 1-0), both in last-16 Champions League ties.
“The club know they are not favourites but see this as a level test for the project,” explained Ballus. “The fans and the club legends are the more optimistic ones. I spoke to Paul Dickov recently for an interview with Sport and he said that ‘this is the first time in recent years that, with these players, this attitude and this coach, they seem capable of standing up to Barcelona’.”
City have courted Catalan interest, too, launching a Twitter account which has already gained nearly 18,000 followers, after sending their first tweet in July 2016.
The club are aware there would be many people in Catalonia interested in Pep's progress and decided it was the right thing to do to keep them up to date.
Sam Lee, a Goal.com journalist, has also noted the increased profile City has in Spain with Pep at the helm.
“There's certainly been more of an interest in City from Spain, and particularly Catalonia—you don't have to leave Manchester to see that,” he told Bleacher Report.
“There was always a small group of Catalan journalists who covered City, but more have been drafted in since the summer, and there are always plenty of reporters from elsewhere in Spain, too, usually looking for Pep's response to the latest controversy. They don't normally get much change out of him, though.
“Obviously City's Catalan Twitter account is a direct attempt from the club to engage new fans, as they are increasingly keen to do, and with this one, they know there'll be plenty back in Barcelona keen to at least keep one eye on their progress.
“The Catalan influence is noticeable, but it will be felt more keenly behind the scenes. Guardiola brought an army of staff with him in the summer, and the players have been dealing with a lot of Catalan coaches and doctors.
“As well as the obvious, more visible, members of the back-room team like Lorenzo Bonaventura and Domenec Torrent, former Espanyol striker Edu Mauri was brought in as assistant to Max Scala, the head of sports medicine. Mauri worked closely with Dr Ramon Cugat at his Barcelona clinic and already this season Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne have spent time there as they nurse muscle injuries.
“John Stones even admitted some of the English lads have started learning a few words of Castilian Spanish to help smooth the transitions of all the new coaching and playing staff—even if Guardiola does slip into German from time to time.”
Certainly on paper this City team seem better equipped to cope with Barcelona than previous sides, with a coach who knows his opponents all too well.
There will be a tactical battle at Camp Nou, and few would deny that City’s coach is better on the chalkboard than Luis Enrique. Or at least more inventive.
When Pep’s Bayern faced Lucho’s Barcelona in the 2015 Champions League semi-final first leg at Camp Nou, for 76 minutes, the German side were on top.
Barcelona were thwarted on every occasion, while Bayern looked to hit them on the break. Eventually Lionel Messi decided enough was enough. Two virtuoso goals from the Argentinian fired Barcelona ahead before Neymar added a late third to effectively kill the tie off.
Part of Luis Enrique’s plan is to allow the attacking trident of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez the freedom they need to breathe.
By allowing them free rein, he, in a way, relinquishes tactical control—but makes the perfect tactical decision.
The chemistry between the MSN trio is so strong and so productive that it would be foolish to tamper with it.
Other players in the team have to pick up the slack sometimes, but the good team spirit at Barcelona sees even the forwards working hard to track back.
It is no coincidence that Barcelona’s best performance and result so far this season has come in the only game that the three forwards were on the pitch together for 90 minutes, the 7-0 win over Celtic.
The MSN was broken up when Messi went off injured against Atletico Madrid on September 21 and, a month later, are set to be reunited against Manchester City.
They have the X-factor that could send Guardiola’s best-laid plans astray, as they did in the same stadium when his Bayern team came calling.
For that reason, perhaps, City aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves.
Lee added: “I think the fans will have looked at City's attempts to build a team, a system, and have heeded Guardiola's warning that it will take time. They are certainly heading in the right direction, but are currently nowhere near Barca's level.
“Guardiola is one of few coaches who can come up with something special on the night, but I don't think there's too much expectancy among supporters at this moment in time.”
Even if logic suggests Barcelona are favourites—after all, Pep’s City aren’t as good as Pep’s Bayern—the Catalans are more wary this time around. They know just what Guardiola can do for a team.
Gerard Pique agrees. He said, ahead of the clash: "Manchester City are a different team from last year and from all the years they played in Camp Nou with Manuel Pellegrini.
"Their style of play is different, they play more or less the same style as us, because obviously Pep was here and he understands football the same way as we understand it. It will be a challenging game and I hope we can win."
Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.
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