Guardiola at the Bernabéu: from 2-6 with Messi to the pique with Mourinho and the night of the & apos; athletes & apos; Real Madrid

• Guardiola, Morbo and a single defeat in eight games
• Draw Madrid-City and Atlético-Liverpool, star duels
• Dates All crossings

On the last visit of Pep Guardiola to Real Madrid, the previous conference, with him at the head of Bayern, was given at the Intercontinental hotel. He wanted to avoid the press room where he suffered such intense duels with José Mourinho years before (unforgettable in the history of that rivalry the "fucking master" who dedicated to the Portuguese). In that Barça stage, his steps through the Bernabéu (seven) were almost victories, even with historical humiliations like the famous 2-6 of 2009. However, since he separated from Leo Messi things are costing him a little more .

With the German champion he collected eliminations in the Champions League against Spanish rivals, leaving him above all very marked - as he recognized in some affectionate subsequent biography - the defeat against the whites in the semifinals of 2014. Despite the dominance of the ball, his team ended up losing 1-0, soft snack of what would come in Munich. The 0-4 of Madrid is framed in the museum of the great European nights of the shield of the Castellana. Guardiola, after falling in the first leg, stressed that Madrid had real "athletes." Compliment or subtle reproach, sliding that they had won more for the physicist than for the game? He never clarified.

The protagonists of the crossing that will be played on February 26 and March 17 have changed a lot, compared to their last time. Madrid tries to manage the hangover of a triumphant cycle, hoping to regain lost competitiveness without Cristiano Ronaldo. And Guardiola desperately seeks a Champions League away from Barça and without the Argentine star. Along the way, he has added several league titles, both in Germany and in England, the current champion of the Premier.

Local success, failure in Europe

He has always opposed a vindictive discourse on domestic successes to his failures in Europe. In fact, one of his last darts to Madrid was to leave him out of a very personal ranking he made on the best teams of the last decade. The four Champions won five attempts by the whites did not seem sufficient merits for the coach, also very recently involved in spreading the independence message internationally. After the sentence of the procés, he gave flight in a video to the slogan Sit and talk (sit down and dialogue) that on Wednesday the radical groups want to exhibit in the classic.

His City, which now travels musty through the league, 14 points behind Liverpool, shows the club state label thanks to the multi-million dollar investment of Abu Dhabi . However, so many resources have not avoided some public lament of the technician, complaining about the alleged economic inferiority of his team with respect to other great Europeans. In his three seasons he has spent 762.3 million euros in signings , which translates into a squad loaded with figures, with two leading strikers: Sterling and De Bruyne . The colorful game of Guardiola style, always offensive and hungry for the ball, joins the quality of its players.

The crossing with Madrid will be marked by the intimate rivalry of Catalan with whites. His famous yellow tie in solidarity with politicians convicted of sedition cannot be seen in the Bernabéu band as it is banned by UEFA.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• sports
• soccer
• Champions League
• Real Madrid
• Pep Guardiola

ChampionsChampions League: Real Madrid-City, Atlético-Liverpool and Barcelona-Naples, in the round of 16

Champions League Champions League: Madrid and Atlético sigh for Leipzig; Barcelona and Valencia by Atalanta and Lyon

ChampionsGuardiola at the Bernabéu: Morbo and a single defeat in eight games