Thursday, May 7, 2015
BARCELONA, Spain — He knew. Of course he knew. Pep Guardiola spent four remarkable years as the coach at Barcelona, won 14 trophies at Barcelona, saw Lionel Messi score more than 200 goals for Barcelona. When Guardiola, who now coaches Bayern Munich, said Tuesday that Messi was “unstoppable,” it was not hyperbole. It was simply the truth from a man who could not lie.
And Guardiola was right. Bayern Munich tried anyway; the Bavarians tried everything, really. Physical play. High-pressure defending. Even a risky three-back defensive scheme that lasted fewer than 20 minutes before Guardiola realized he was doing the soccer equivalent of playing with dynamite.
In the end, there was no escaping. Messi teased and tantalized without a payoff until late into the second half Wednesday night. Yet, when the inevitable finally arrived with about 13 minutes remaining, it was as enchanting as anything Messi has ever produced.
First, there was the sheer power, a lashed shot from outside the penalty area that burrowed into the corner of the net. Then, three minutes later, there was the artist’s touch, a breathtaking run that felled defender Jérôme Boateng as if he had been knocked unconscious, followed by a devilish chip over the goalkeeper that sent the Camp Nou stadium into hysterics and Guardiola, on the sideline, into the emptiest of stares.
Is this Champions League semifinal over? Technically, it is not. Neymar’s late goal completed Barcelona’s 3-0 victory and gave it a mountainous lead in the two-game aggregate series, but Bayern has enough talent to hold on to at least a sliver of hope ahead of next Tuesday’s return at Allianz Arena.
And yet, still: Messi’s magic felt like a death blow.
“Leo,” said Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique, “is a player from another
And yet, still: Messi’s magic felt like a death blow.
“Leo,” said Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique, “is a player from another dimension.”
Guardiola, looking ashen in the interview room, was blunt: “You can turn around a one- or two-goal deficit,” he said. “But three is tough.”
Guardiola added that it was particularly grating for him to know how close Munich was — just 15 minutes — from a result that would have been an altogether triumphant return for him. He actually came back to Camp Nou two months ago, with his father, to watch from the stands as Barcelona beat Manchester City, but that was a (mostly) pleasure trip. Wednesday was about business, a point Guardiola made repeatedly before the match, saying: “I am not here for my testimonial. I’m here to do my job.”
There was considerable pressure on him, too. As dominant as Bayern Munich has been in Germany, the club’s standards are impossibly high, and no one in Munich has forgotten the embarrassment of last year’s semifinal pounding by Real Madrid, which included a 4-0 loss at Allianz Arena. Guardiola has won the Bundesliga each of his two seasons in charge — Munich clinched this year’s title with four games to spare — but for a team seeking to become as big a global brand as Barça and Real, European success is critical.
Now, another continental humbling is underway. “We saw today they didn’t give us many chances, but never say never,” goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said. “We must try to believe.”
