Guardiola's Barcelona life timeline

Josep "Pep" Guardiola (born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish football manager and player. He start his career joining La Masia at the age of 13, at the youth academy of Barcelona for six years making his debut in 1990 against Cadiz CF. He moved up into the first-team and he became the pivot of the Dream Team. After that for shortly just in 1991-92 season he became a first team regularand at only 20 years old and was a key component of a side that won La Liga and the European Cup. Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo present Guardiola as the finest player in the world under the age of 21.  

 

In 1997–98 season, Barcelona rejected offers from Roma and Parma for Guargiola. After long and complicated contract talks, Guardiola signed a new contract with Barcelona which extended his stay until 2001.

A calf muscle injury sent Guardila out from the pitches for most of 1997-98 season. This season Barcelona won a league and cup double under new manager Louis Van Gaal. He returned into action next season and Barcelona once again won the league mostly thanks to the performances of Rivaldo and Luís Figo.  On 8 June 1998, Guardiola went on surgery to try to solve once and for all the problems that he was experiencing with his calf which had led to him missing the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Spain. A largely disappointing 1999–2000 season ended once again in surgery as Guardiola missed the last three months of the season due to a serious ankle injury. 

On 11 April 2001, Barcelona's captain announced his intention to leave the club after a long 17 years. On 24 June 2001, Guardiola played his last match with Barcelona in the last game of the season against Celta Vigo. After the game he said: "It's been a long journey. I'm happy, proud, happy with the way people treated me and I have made many friends. I cannot ask for more. I have had many years in the elite. I did not come to make history but to make my own history.

Pep played 479 games for the club, in 12 seasons in the Barcelona first team, winning 16 trophies. He won six league titles, a European Cup and Olympic gold, amongst other numerous trophieshe and he  was a part of a gifted side Barcelona. 

After Barca he had played for Brescia and Roma and at the and in Al-Ahil. His time in Italy, however, was unhappy and including four months ban after testing positive for Nandroline. Eight years later he cleared, but his time in Italy was not nearly as successful as his career at Barcelona. He finished with 71 games in Italy.

Guardiola was appointed coach of FC Barcelona B on 21 June 2007. Under his leadership Barcelona B in 2008 were classified in the play off matches for the second division. After victories in these contests Barcelona B achived promotion. FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced before the end of the 2007–08 season that Guardiola would be appointed manager of FC Barcelona to replace Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season. 

And from 2008 until today hi was the best coatch and the best leader in Barcelona history. His achivment: 

- Matches: 242     
- Victories: 175,   Draws: 46,   Defeats: 21
- Goals scored: 618 (2,55 per match)
- Goals conceded: 178 (0,73 per match)
- Winning % : 72,31%

Honours as manager
- 2011 FIFA Best Manager of the Year
- Best manager in 2009 and 2011 according to the IFFHS
- ONZE d’Or as best European manger in 2009 and 2011
- Best LFP manager in 2009 and 2011
- World's best manager according to World Soccer in 2009 and 2011
- Royal Order of Athletic Merit 2010
- Gold medal from the Parlament de Catalunya
- 2009 Catalan of the year
- Santpedor's favourite son in 2009

Guardiola leaving Barcelona on June 30

The best coach for Barcelona in the 21st century, after 4 years managing the club on June 30 leaves. Today at 13:30 Pep Guardiola has announced to the president and squad that he will not be staying at FC Barcelona after June 30, when his present contract ends. He says that the reason should be clear to everyone, 4 years is a long time and he wants to rest.

Guardiola is departing as the most successful manager in FCB history, having won 13 titles to date. Having also played for Barça between 1991 and 2001, he returned in 2007 to coach the reserve team. A year later he took over the first team and led them to four unprecedented years of success.

 

 " I've already done three years, one more will be four years. And in four years a big club needs a lot of courage to keep the same coach. Everyone should know when it's the right time to go, as I always heard when I was a player. I feel good here but I believe my time at Barcelona is ending. I need to rest, go step back and replashed "

Managerial Record: 239 Games, 175 Won, 46 Drawn, 19 Lost (Win 72%)

How will accept this the entire team, and how will this affect on their own success, we shall see in the next season. Sadly for all fans of Barcelona but it is the final decision by Guardila although the the door remains open in the event that changed his mind.

Barcelona announce Tito Vilanova as a head coach for next season. He is the man who will be in charge for the club for now and how will proceed further Barcelona remains the time to show.

GUARDILA BEST MOMENTS 

Thanks Josep “Pep” Guardiola

FC Barselona vs Real Madrid (League, round35)

Next on that should Guardiola thinks is the match against Real Madrid at of Nou Camp 04/21/2012. Remaining five matches to end of season, less time to reach the big 4 points of Real Madrid. This match is of great interest for all fans of Barcelona, ​​because by winning on the Nou Camp, Real Madrid will be only 1 point edge. 

These are difficult moments for the entire team at Barcelona, ​​followed by great challenges and enormous effort. The whole team is focused on the following match, but they should not forget the following revenge match against Chelsea on 24/4/2012. Competition which is unnecessary to prepare the entire team with new ideas and new plans to defeat Chelsea. To return everything that was lost on yesterday's match away (1-0).

Guardiola: “Chelsea are favourites"

Josep Guardiola said that today, because of Drogba’s goal, that Chelsea are favourites to go through to the Champions League final: “Chelsea are favourites at the moment, but we have 90 minutes at home to try to do the best job possible, and hopefully, make it to the final.”

“It doesn’t matter how the players feel right now. I know that they will give it their all to get to the final"

The manager is hopeful that his team will be able to create the same amount of goalscoring chances next week at the Camp Nou. Guardiola is convinced that the Camp Nou faithful won’t abandon their team and that his players are up to the task of overturning today’s adverse result. “I know that they will give it their all to get to the final,” he said. The manager believes that, given the level of play his team have played at for so long, “getting to this point in the season is a success.” He added: “We’ve already won this year”

Josep Guardiola is convinced that if his team are to make it to the Champions League final in Munich, Barça will have to play a perfect game at the Camp Nou next Tuesday. The manager views the upcoming match as “a great challenge, one worthy of a Champions League semi-final.” Guardiola said that he’s proud of the performance his players put in at Stamford Bridge and that his team went into the match “to play the best way possible, where they never lost the desire to score.” Whatever happens from now on out, the manager said that his team “have already won this year” after playing at such a high level for so long. “Getting to this point is a success within itself,” he said. Guardiola went on to say that he's convinced that Barça fans won’t forsake their team next week. He also warned that his players are up to the task of fighting back in the tie: “it doesn’t matter how the players feel right now. I know that they will give it their all to get to the final and that the people will come and support us on Saturday and Tuesday. We’ll try to succeed.”

When asked what type of game he expects from the English side in the return leg, Guardiola said, “I don’t think Chelsea will come out to attack or pressure us high up the pitch, I do anticipate 10 players in the area waiting to counterattack. They’ll probably bide their time and wait for their moment. We cannot forget that Chelsea, with very little, create a lot of danger, and they do it very well. We’ll have to find the way to score goals.”
Ahead of the match at the Camp Nou, Guardiola highlighted the importance of scoring, something that didn’t happen this Wednesday despite Barça’s 24 attempts. “We’ll try to find alternatives to complete a comeback. It won’t be easy, especially with 10 players in the area. We’ll need inspiration and patience to find the way to turn this around,” he said. He added: “the challenge is to shoot 24 times next Tuesday and score a goal. We need to be patient and ambitious. I don’t know if there are many other teams that have shot 24 times away from home.”
source: www.fcbarcelona.com

Five years of Messi's Maradona-like goal

Five years ago Leo Messi scored one of the best goals of his career. It was against Getafe in King’s Cup semifinals. In yesterdays match Messi was the center of attention for another reason altogether: this Wednesday was the five-year anniversary of the Maradona-like goal he scored against Getafe in the semifinals of the King’s Cup in the 2006/07 season. That goal was and remains a major theme in the history of football how Messi follow the footsteps of his predecessor in the Argentine football. With this goal Messi has started its biggest achievements in Barcelona that still persist and are multiplying. Messi is now an icon of football, a challenge for many of his colleagues and idol of the most of the world.

                                                           Congratulations, Leo!

Chelsea - FC Barcelona (1-0)

Nobody ever said it would be easy to get to the Munich final. Barça went down to a single goal at Stamford Bridge, despite hitting the post twice and restricting the hosts to a single shot on target – Drogba’s goal on the stroke of half time. Guardiola’s team dictated the pace and the rhythm of the game, dominating possession and creating plenty of chances, but the packed Chelsea defence, the posts and an inspired Cech somehow kept them out.
The result means Barça will have to come from behind at the Camp Nou next Tuesday night if they want to reach the Munich final and it should be a perfect night to put right the injustice of a result that this evening in London failed to reflect their superiority.

No prize despite domination
Barça took control from the kick off and soon had Chelsea pinned back in their own half, with the Londoners defending with four at the back, a line of five across the middle and only Drogba up front. On 10 minutes, Alexis set the tone of the night, when after a great pass from Iniesta, his clever chip came back off the bar with Cech well beaten.
Drogba makes his mark
It was one way traffic for most of the first half, as Barça patiently probed the Chelsea ramparts, keeping hold of possession and looking to pounce on any opportunity. The chances were coming, with Cesc missing a couple of great opportunities with his left peg. Chelsea were always looking to attack on the break though and in injury time they got their reward as Ramires broke down the left and crossed for Drogba who bundled the ball past Valdes. It was a cruel blow for Barça who had been by far the better team throughout the first 45 minutes.

Goals just wouldn’t come
Little changed after the break, as Barça laid siege to the hosts’ area, whilst Chelsea were prepared to sit back and defend en masse. Alexis came close and Puyol forced a brilliant save from Cech, before in injury time Pedro hit the post and Busquets smashed the rebound high over the Chelsea bar and into the celebrating home fans in the stand. Tuesday will be another game and Barça must hope that their luck will surely turn.
source: www.fcbarcelona.com

Barcelona closer to winning La Liga and the Champions League!

Barça, four points away from the leaders!  
After yesterday's match between Real Madrid and Valencia which ended draw, Barcelona is just 4 points behind the leader Real Madrid. The six points that separated Barça and Real Madrid on Friday have been reduced to four, with seven games (21 points) still left to be played. Next match against Getafe is the most beautiful opportunity for Barcelona to come closer only 1 point apart from the leader.  Barça comes into tomorrow’s match against Getafe on a nine-game winning streak in La Liga. The Catalans will travel to Valencia to face Levante this weekend.

Barca with a higher motivation in the semifinal against Chelsea! 
This is the 13th time FC Barcelona have reached the semifinals of the Champions League in Club history. The first four times Barça made it to this round was when the competition was called the European Cup. Barça are the first team to ever manage to qualify for five consecutive semifinals in the competition. It’s worth noting that the competition’s current format started in the 1992/93 season. First challenge at the moment is match against Getafe in order to reduce the current lag 4 points behind the leader, but never falls into shadow the first semifinal match against Chelsea which will be played in London at Stamford Bridge.

Tonight 20:45 - F.C.Barcelona vs A.C.Milan

Arguably the biggest quarter-final clash in the UEFA Champions League comes as Barcelona travel to the San Siro to take on Milan. Barcelona won emphatically in the last round hitting Bayer Leverkusen for 10 over the two legs. However, Guardiola knows the quality Milan have in the form of former player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
This will be the third time the teams will meet this season having already faced each other twice in the group stages.
Milan are dominant in Serie A, currently top of the league, however Barcelona are second in La Liga trailing to first place Real Madrid. The winner over the two legs will face either Benfica or Chelsea - Chelsea currently 1-0 up after winning Benfica in Portugal.
The other quarter final taking place is between Olympique Marseille and Bayern Munich with Franck Ribery making a return to his former club.

source: youtube.com

FC Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao (2:0)

Barça have beaten Athletic Bilbao in an intense, lively game in which both sides played some exquisite football
But the home side enjoyed most of the possession and also the chances, and eventually won through thanks to goals from Iniesta and Messi (penalty)
Barça v Athletic Bilbao was as good a game as people had expected, with both teams showing why they are getting so much praise of late. These are two sides that like to keep possession of the ball, and in that respect it was Barça that came out tops – something which clearly unsettled their Basque visitors. The home side had all the chances in the first half, and also the only goal, an absolute beauty from Iniesta. Both sides were clearly treating the game with the utmost intensity, and we were also treated to a fascinating tactical battle between two of the most respected coaches in the competition. Messi, on an evening on which he received a special tribute for becoming the highest goalscorer in FCB history, settled the result in the second half from the penalty spot. It was a hard-fought victory for the Catalans, and the three points serve to keep their league title hopes very much alive.
Both sides had clearly made modifications to their starting elevens with European commitments in mind, but Barça were firing on all cylinders regardless. The Athletic players were clearly stunned by such an ambitious opening. After just five minutes Piqué had a shot turned wide and two minutes later Thiago had a goal disallowed for offside. Bilbao’s plan to use the wings just didn’t seem to be working for them, and neither could they find a way to work the ball forwards out of defence. Try as they could to take the initiative, they were clearly struggling to hold onto possession for any sizeable period of time. The game was Barça’s for the taking.

Just when the pace seemed to be slowing, the 88,207 strong crowd started chanting the name of “Abidal! Abidal!” in honour of the minute that coincided with the Frenchman’s shirt number. That seemed to be the inspiration the Barcelona players needed. Messi almost surprised Bilbao keeper Gorka with a quickly taken free kick from far out, and from the ensuing corner, Aurtenetxe cleared a Piqué effort off the goal line. It was all Barça, but although they couldn’t get the ball, the visitors were exceptionally disciplined at the back. Messi was subjected to some especially tight marking, and as a result, Barça were failing to find their usual magic over the last few metres.
But the Basque wall was finally broken down in the 40th minute. Alexis won the ball in midfield and threaded it forwards to Messi. The Argentinian supplied a quick assist to Iniesta, who came in from behind to slam the ball home with verve. 1-0. And Barça had chances to extend that lead before the break, with Gorka twice being called upon to deal with angled shots from Messi and Adriano. A delightful 45 minutes of football ended with the Catalans ahead by a solitary goal.

Messi makes no mistake
Marcelo Bielsa sought to change the pattern in the second half by sending on two of his prize assets, Ander and Muniain, while striker Llorente would be the third substitute. That helped Athletic to start creating more danger but Barça managed to contain everything that was thrown their way, with Piqué and Mascherano being particularly effective in limiting the potential damage. Meanwhile, Tello was impressing in up front. It was he who tested Gorka to the limit with a brilliantly swerved shot, and it was also he who was brought down for a penalty that was coolly converted by Leo Messi in the 57th minute.
Barça held onto their lead the way they know best – by keeping the ball away from their opponents. And also by not letting off in attack. In the 67th minute, Gorka came to his team’s rescue yet again, this time to save an exquisite effort from Iniesta, who was replaced shortly after by Xavi. Keita also came on as Guardiola sought to make sure Bilbao didn’t spring any nasty late surprises. Something they almost did through Muniain, but Piqué was there just in time. That was the start of a late flurry from the visitors, but it was ultimately in vain, and Barça very nearly made it three when Keita’s shot hit the crossbar. The three points mean that the Catalans stay within six points of the league leaders, and were also a massive confidence boost ahead of the crunch game with Milan on Tuesday night.

source: www.fcbarcelona.com