“We have to be patient,” said Guardiola in a hoarse voice, a frown and the gestural tension of great evenings. The Manchester City coach gave one of his repeated speeches in the Istanbul Olympic Stadium conference room, not always with success. In the second Champions League final of his career away at Barça, the coach once again meets a team that defends with five defenders and is quick to counterattack with two full-backs, two midfielders and two attackers and is a constant threat when losing possession. When in doubt, the crucial dilemma arises: prioritize possession to avoid counterattacks, or emphasize the rhythm of movement to prevent the opponent from asserting himself in his ditch. The message of caution, of course, tends to tip the scales in the first direction. For teams that make attacking a fanatical bet, like City, patience can lead to virtue or poison.
There are coaches who, in order to activate all the alarms, warn their players that they must go onto the field as if they lose 0:1. Guardiola spread a message of calm. “Basically, I don’t think doing what you want is the best way to reach the final,” Guardiola warned. “You have to be stable, stick to the plan, defend well, attack in a controlled manner and be patient. The most important thing in this type of game is that we don’t lose if it stays 0-0. For Italian teams, 0-0 means a win. But 0-0 is a draw. You don’t win. We must have stability. Have rhythm while staying balanced and taking a step forward in bad moments.”
The Italian game preparation model predates the panels. Experience shows that every minute that passes without conceding exponentially increases the chances of winning for the team that relinquishes control of the ball. It has been empirically proven after decades of trials. The greatest expenditure of physical and mental energy falls to the team, who have to handle the ball and constantly practice precision in order to avoid increasingly threatening mistakes. When City players step onto the field unaware that they are living on the sidelines, they will face setbacks they cannot get out of without an adrenaline overdose. Patience usually saves risks and turnover. But it doesn’t produce adrenaline or increase aggression. Ancelotti knew it, rubbing his hands when he heard ‘patience’ preceded Guardiola’s messages en route to the semi-final first leg in Chamartín.
The message Carlo Ancelotti received from Manchester City ahead of the first leg in early May gave hope to the Italian coach. According to sources close to Madrid, the news from the rivals’ headquarters suggested that Guardiola would prepare a game that would focus more on control than risk, avoiding vertical passes when players can’t see them absolutely clearly and safety passes gives priority. Without line breaks. Avoiding setbacks was the slogan that carried the most weight in the England dressing room. “Patience” was the ringing word. Exactly the kind of scenario that suited Madrid, said Ancelotti, who knew his players would resist lateral tipping better than the forward-backward-forward runs typical of fast-paced games. According to all calculations, the lactic acid of the accelerated transitions would destroy Benzema, Modric and Kroos.
Guardiola’s patient approach in Madrid, which ended 1-1, gave the Madrid players confidence and validated Ancelotti’s idea in the same way it alarmed City coaches in the second leg. When Madrid fell apart within 40 minutes in Manchester, it was because City played anything but patiently. His players wasted a lot on alternations and filtered passes, the speed of circulation and dizzying transitions multiplied. The inaccuracies that existed favored the bravest team in the long run. City didn’t just win 4-0. He delivered the most perfect game for a Guardiola team in the Champions League since 2011.
“A lot of rhythm, but…”
Now Guardiola faces another opponent who is opening up in his field. You have to decide whether you want to connect your devices through safe circulation or through aggressive brewing. “I’m trying to understand what game we have to play,” he said on Tuesday. “We will encounter many, many difficulties. It’s not easy to attack Inter’s defense system. We have to play with a lot of rhythm, but also with a little patience. We can’t solve the moves with two or three passes, we have to know the pace, the exact rhythm. That’s the most important thing in these kinds of games because the longer it goes without scoring, the more nervous we get and that can be a problem.”
The rhythm is the question. The fine line that every coach who relies on ultra-offensive football walks, the switch that turns the soul of his team on or off, always boils down to the same elementary dilemma: how, when and where to play the ball. Pep Guardiola’s great decision on the cusp of becoming the greatest manager of all time, the only one who could build two legendary teams, or the only one who came close.
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