Pep Guardiola met Marcelo Bielsa on Elland Road this Saturday.
The match between Leeds and Manchester City ended in a draw (1-1) after long episodes of interlocking in the rain.
In the absence of a memorable show, the date will be set by mythomaniacs.
It was the first Premier meeting of the protagonists of a legend that they feed themselves.
Every time, with more audience.
"Bielsa received me when I was nobody," Guardiola recalled before the game, on DAZN.
The Spanish omitted a detail.
When he visited Bielsa, secluded in his retirement in the cereal pampas, almost two decades ago, he had just finished a career that had made him one of the best midfielders ever.
One day, as Argentina coach, Bielsa suggested that the easiest way to stop Spain was to cover Guardiola with a personal brand.
That distant meeting, more than an act of selfless generosity, was a gesture of mutual admiration.
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Leeds Illan Meslier, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Dallas, Alioski (Ian Carlo Poveda, min. 45), Kalvin Phillips, Klich (Leif Davis, min. 76), Roberts (Rodrigo, min. 55), Hélder Costa and BamfordM.
CityEderson Moraes, Laporte, Benjamin Mendy (Aké, min. 70), Walker, Rúben Dias, Rodrigo, Foden, De Bruyne, Ferrán Torres (Bernardo Silva, min. 64), Mahrez (Fernandinho, min. 76) and Sterling
Goals0-1 min.
16: Sterling.
1-1 min.
58: Rodrigo.
Referee Mike Dean Yellow cards Bamford (min. 11), Benjamin Mendy (min. 35) and Dallas (min. 91)
Following his custom, before City's visit, Bielsa sent personal markings.
De Bruyne was assigned Klich.
But De Bruyne was difficult to follow because City parked the double pivot and deployed its entire battery of interiors and attackers: Foden, Mahrez, Sterling and Torres exchanged positions in a start that they ended up controlling quite well.
Sterling's 0-1, in a quick exit that culminated in partnering with Ferran Torres, validated their dominance.
"Guardiola did a lot of damage to football because he unwittingly invented a system which is how a Guardiola team is defended," Bielsa said before the game.
“Ten players stand behind the center circle on the field itself.
They cut the field in half! ”.
City dominated but did so without conviction.
The team plays well but even in its best days it is diminished by the enthusiasm that raised it to the head of the Premier with an apotheosis that lasted from 2017 to 2019. Far from the more conservative reactions that the
citizen
game provokes
, Bielsa sought shrink the field forward.
If Leeds did not take the initiative it was because they could not.
Bielsa contemplated the impotence of his squatting players, tormented and with their glasses disabled by the downpour.
"Come on!" He was heard screaming, outrageous.
Leeds only found the site after the first half.
In a corner, after the break, Rodrigo Moreno exploited Ederson's bad start to tie an evening marked by the screams of the technicians from the side.
When the referee whistled the end, Guardiola and his counterpart embraced under the downpour.
"It was nice," Bielsa told him.
"The result was fair," Guardiola replied.