Lionel Messi and Josep Guardiola
Josep Guardiola’s emotional departure before a packed Camp Nou served as the cathartic end of an unprecedentedly successful four-year spell as Barcelona’s manager, symbolically capped by a four-goal performance from Lionel Messi.
The diminutive Argentine who, under Guardiola, evolved from an intimidating but inconsistent offensive threat to an almost unstoppable scoring machine, keeps breaking records, and his 50 goals in this La Liga season with one match left already sound like an almost extraterrestrial achievement.
On a cold Saturday night, Guardiola enjoyed a heartfelt and well-organised departure event, with plenty of demonstrations of affection from both the squad and the stands. However, one suspects that his most rewarding moment, other than Messi’s sincere hug after the archetypical false nine scored his fourth of the night, happened when everyone had left the stadium and Pep came back to the pitch to take some pictures with his family, as though trying to capture what remained of those unforgettable moments his squad has brought him since he took over in the summer of 2008.
However powerful and understandable his reasons might be, Guardiola’s farewell does feel like a retreat. Pep leaves Barcelona when the club is on the verge of becoming one of the greatest football dynasties ever. By walking away, he also deprives us of one of the most polarising football rivalries of all time, just when his antagonism with Jose Mourinho had reached dizzying heights. These two top-level coaches, with almost opposite football creeds, going at it full speed while managing two of the biggest football clubs in the world, have brought us extremely intense moments of discussion and controversy during the last two seasons, and Guardiola’s stepping down somehow makes us, football fans, feel let down.
