A ruthless irony sees Pep Guardiola of José Mourinho and Paris Saint-Germain
When Manchester City faced Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals of the Champions League 4 years ago, he presented himself as a war between two studies with glory strategies.
Paris Saint-Germain had followed the “Dream Team” approach, integrating two of the world’s superstars: Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé.
Manchester City, in hand, have selected to position their trust in a legendary coach and his much-appreciated tactical philosophy through possession football.
And, while there were times in the first half of that semi-final at the Parc des Princes where the combinations between PSG’s iconic forward line looked unstoppable, as Pep Guardiola’s sides used to have a habit of doing when the initial adrenaline of the contest wained, and City began dominating the ball.
Neymar and Mbappé didn’t seem quite as fearsome when they were tasked with doing shuttle runs to contain the metronomic passing, and City gained the upper hand.
A 1-0 for the locals, a 1-2 against, and the Mancnians left Paris with the merit.
Weeks later, when the pair met for the second leg, the result was even more emphatic: City won 2-0, and PSG was booted out.
By the end of the game, Mauricio Pochettino’s team had stopped looking to compete and began to foul their warring parties as much as possible.
As the BBC stressed after the game, the French superpower, which had lost the last in the Bayern Munich last year, returned.
“Although it is clearly disappointed to lose against Bayern Munich in Lisbon, at least it will be a demonstration and an achievement on which to build,” writes the text.
“But there is little they can take away from this semi-final defeat, in which they were only defeated by an incredible and wiser team, but also inexcusably lost their ground in both sets. “
That summer, the Parisians doubled the figure of the dream team by signing Lionel Messi and retreated more to win the most important prize in Europe.
City, who lost the last of that year in Chelsea, maintained religion in Guardiola and was rewarded two years later with the first trophy of the Club Champions League.
When the clubs met in Europe last week, a very different dynamic was presented.
PSG has totally abandoned the superstar model and is seeking to build with a Guardiola disciple, Jose Enrique, while City is struggling badly because it has failed to replace aging parts of the team.
Even though the Mangunios ran to a 0-2 lead, just like what happened in Paris in 2021, the incredible tactics of the match, which ended 4-2 for PSG.
During the defeat, Guardiola admitted that it had been overcome.
“PSG were better than us,” he said.
“We may simply make passes, to deal with immediate transitions.
“PSG played more and didn’t win; today, they have.
“We tried to follow the ball with Ilkay Gundogan, James McAtee and Jack Grealish, but we couldn’t do it. It’s all in the middle where you play, we couldn’t. We couldn’t. The PSG players are moving with a lot of sense Attack and defense, well. “collective. “
To hear Guardiola complement the Paris Saint-Germain Collective on his outfit, how dramatic the unraveling of the past two months has been in the city.
Many were made of tired, aging legs in Manchester City’s gadget room this season, but as the Catalan coach presses him after PSG’s loss, the challenge of his exact old game is the same.
Although this is due to a physical handicap, evidence suggests that even versions of the Etihad skin were slower and smaller than their opponents.
It is the design and taste that sets them apart.
“Speed is important, against PSG we ran more than them,” Guardiola said after the game.
“Our problem is with the ball. This season, it is what we have missed.
“If you have the ball and it doesn’t pass well to your teammate, everything is very difficult. “
However, Guardiola’s broader justification for City’s horrendous slide this season proves contradictory.
The Catalan blames a terrible injury list for his side’s poor form, stating after the PSG game
“When everyone, when Rodri is here, when all the central defenders is here, and many players are all there, we will fight. We will not be 25th now, in the Champions League [table], we will not,” he said.
In enduring his difficulties this season, Guardiola has notably found out in the words of our old rival, José Mourinho.
Considering how temporarily the once-indomitable Portuguese manager is in decline when he declared his time with Manchester United to be “one of the most productive jobs” of his career, it would arguably not be the best sign that the Catalan coach finds convenience in the description of The Portuguese Coach.
Yet that is where Guardiola finds himself.
“There are seasons when there are a lot of difficulties,” Guardiola said. “How do you stand up? How do you stay there?
“I remember Jose. I don’t know the reality of United but he said many times finishing second in that season was his biggest success. I understand completely.”
Learning from Jose and PSG is something few thought we’d see Guardiola do, yet here we are.
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