Bielsa vs. Guardiola: play like in the field, in the best field in the world

03/10/2020 - 17:16

• Clarín.com

• sports

In none of Marcelo Bielsa's folders could the following be read: we are going to shoot a center from the left, it will open towards the center of the small area, it will be a rainy day, with a lot of rain, the rival goalkeeper will go Search for that simple shipment and you will fail.

The ball will slip from your hands and will be available to a forward from our team who will push it and score the goal.

Nor could Guardiola have foreseen in his pre-game training sessions that in the last play and from another corner he would almost take the three points for a header against the rival center-forward, the same one that minutes before a heads-up failed and ended without being neither hero or villain.

"The two teams wanted to win, that is the conclusion of the match," summarized Bielsa.

A simple definition that contrasts with a certain search for grandiloquence in the football analyzes that surround the Argentine coach.

It is that the 1-1 between Leeds and Manchester City was the same thing that Bielsa says.

With unpredictability as an inescapable condiment for football, both the Rosario and Guardiola take care of all the rest of what is within their reach.

But they indulge in the most basic of the game: wanting to win.

The 90 minutes on Elland Road reflected this.

They played like in the field.

Like when in the pasture they said that the one who "scores the goal wins."

But here they said it at the opening whistle.

Ninety minutes of the scorer wins.

Fantastic.

It took Bielsa's team to adjust to the game, suffered the start, had several errors in the start from the bottom and did not know how to overcome the suffocating pressure of City.

Raheem Sterling opened the account on his third chance in 17 minutes.

But already at the end of the first part the feeling was different.

Beyond the heads up that Ederson covered Dallas, first and Ayling later, Leeds had already passed the shock and proved to be ready for the frantic round trip of the complement.

And there there were no poster differences.

It was not noted that Ruben Dias, the Portuguese defender who made his City debut, cost the club ($ 70 million) the same money that Leeds invested in all their reinforcements.

It was also not noticed that Jack Harrison, one of the figures of the Bielsa team, could not play because his pass belongs to Guardiola's team, who gave it on loan since it would not take place among so many stars.

Rodrigo's goal after Ederson's blooper was the least clear offensive play Leeds had.

Because things like that also happen on Elland Road or in the countryside.

Before the game, Bielsa had disguised critical praise to refer to Guardiola's influence on football.

"Unintentionally, it has done very badly to football," titled El Loco to delve into the defensive plan that rivals who faced Pep's teams used to use instead of maintaining their proposal.

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Guardiola said after 1-1. "The two teams wanted to attack and the result is fair."

In the previous one, the Catalan had been much more expressive than the Loco to measure the relevance of the Argentine coach: "He is the person in football that I most admire."

When the match had 10 seconds left, the main camera of the broadcast stopped focusing on the players and pointed at the squatting man.

The final whistle was heard.

It rains in Leeds.

Bielsa is branded with both hands crushing his face.

He looks exhausted.

The scene is completed when Guardiola comes to meet him, they hug, smile.

The last time they had met, in the final of the Copa del Rey 2012 that Barcelona beat Bilbao 3-0, the Argentine gave the Spaniard a folder with the detailed analysis he had made of his team.

He said it was a sign of gratitude and a sample of all that Pep had managed to generate.

"I do this to feel good ... I realize that this information does not allow you to win games," El Loco clarified.

This time there was no folder.

Even they did not choose to do sophisticated analysis over 90 minutes that delivered the most basic and essential of the game.

In a football analyzed, debated and given opinions at every turn, Bielsa and Guardiola went to page 1 of the regulation.

And the result (not 1-1) was as genuine as they had planned. 

Look also

Bielsa and Guardiola, different ways of showing the same love

Leeds vs Manchester City, summary and goals: Bielsa and Guardiola were at hand in a great game