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and health problems were ignored until they became debilitating, such as the slipped disc that incapacitated him for few days in March.
    The coaching staff’s analysis was that mistakes weren’t being made during the team talks – they were still based on in-depth studies of their rivals and delivered with the same
enthusiasm and charisma as ever – but, rather, in their execution. But there were question marks over Pep’s faith in first-team newcomers from La Masía. Tello (who started on the
wing against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou in what was a key victory for Mourinho’s team) and Cuenca (in the eleven against Chelsea in the return leg of the semi-finals of the 2012 Champions
League) were expected to produce the same level of performance as Cesc, Alexis or Pedro, who were left out in one of the two games.
    Could Barcelona afford to leave that sort of talent on the bench? Was Pep too close to the squad to actually see the wood for the trees?
    These were pivotal decisions that affected the outcome of the season and Guardiola’s judgement in replacing experienced internationals with near-debutantes in season-defining games raised
more than a few eyebrows. It also had a negative impact on the confidence of the youngsters selected and the older players dropped.
    José Mourinho watched it all from Madrid with a wry smile. The impact of Mourinho and his destabilising strategies is irrefutable even though Pep will always deny it. When asked what he
remembered of the previous Clásicos on the eve of his last as coach, Pep lowered his voice: ‘I don’t have fond memories, of either the victories or the defeats. There are always
reasons that aren’t related to the game that have made a lot of things incomprehensible to me.’ Really? He couldn’t remember even the 2-6 demolition at the Bernabéu? The
5-0 in Mourinho’s first Clásico, described by many as the best performancein the history of the game? There was enormous pressure, not just from Mourinho but from
Madrid’s sporting press who went as far as insulting Pep and suggesting Barcelona’s performances were enhanced by drugs. For a sensitive soul like Pep it was enough to wipe out even the
best memories.
    As the season was reaching the end, the decision about his future became unmovable – he was going to leave the club that was one of the most admired on the planet courtesy of his
leadership. He just had to find the right way to tell the club. And the players. And the fans. But how? If they won the Champions League everything would be much easier.
    While he finalised the details of his departure, he decided not to share his decision with anyone, not even his parents.

 
     
     
     
2
THE DECISION
     
     
     
     
    Before he made an official announcement, the biggest hint that Guardiola gave about his future was inadvertently revealed in a chat with an Italian journalist, in his third year with the first
team, in an interview that was to feature in a DVD on the history of Brescia; but Pep, who normally doesn’t do ‘on-the-record’, one-to-one interviews but making an exception here
was betrayed and his quotes were leaked to Italian national television. It wasn’t so much an evaluation of his personal situation, but the description of an historic constant, applicable not
just to Barcelona but to the majority of great clubs. ‘In order to be in a great institution for four years,’ Guardiola said, ‘you must have a lot of courage. The players get
tired of you and you get tired of the players; the press gets tired of you and you get tired of the press, seeing the same faces, the same questions, the same things. In the end, you must know when
the time comes, in the same way that I understood that when I was a player and said, “Look, it’s time for me to leave”.’
    It turns out that Pep now felt the time had come for him to leave as a manager, too.
    Just after Chelsea qualified for the Champions League final after drawing 2-2 (winning 3-2