Pep Guardiola Admits Chelsea FC Ended Barca Career
Courtesy of Flickr user: MCBFoto
As if Chelsea FC fans did not have enough great memories about the Champions League run in 2012, former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola admitted in an interview with The Audi Annual Report that it was the Blues that ended his reign at Barcelona. The victory over Barcelona was one of the greatest moments in Chelsea history and Fernando Torres’s breakaway goal was the most cathartic moment of the tie as the nightmares of 2008 were washed away with one swing of the Spaniard’s right leg.
The Pep Guardiola era in Barcelona was one of the most successful in the history of the club and all of world football. Pep and his charges won countless trophies including two Champions League trophies and it must give Chelsea fans special pleasure knowing that they ended it.
Guardiola on the defeat to Chelsea and how it convinced him he could not continue at Barcelona:
"“[The Chelsea defeat] was a moment of great sadness — as if suddenly someone had switched the floodlights off. We were better than our opponents but in the second leg conceded an unnecessary goal and the next thing we knew we were out of the competition. That was a very hard defeat for me. I had the feeling that I was no longer able to reach my team, and if you can no longer reach your players then it is time to move on.”"
Barcelona is still a top club but things have changed significantly since Guardiola’s departure. Two coaches in two years and the current coach being a relative unknown from Argentina is not the usual at the Catalan club, even if one coach was forced to resign due to illness. If Chelsea do indeed face the Blaugrana in the next round of the Champions League, it will be a different team than the one they vanquished in 2012 but victory will still be just as sweet.
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