UCL: What have you done with Bayern - fans ask Pep
The Catalan was meant to take Jupp
Heynckes' treble winners to the next
level but he has instead turned them
into the worst version of his former
Blaugrana side
COMMENT
By Mark Doyle
Stefan Effenberg told Goal after Bayern
Munich’s 1-0 loss to Real Madrid at the
Santiago Bernabeu last week that Pep
Guardiola’s “system had reached its limit”.
On Tuesday night in Bavaria, it reached its
nadir as his European champions were
thrashed 4-0 at home by Carlo Ancelotti's
men.
After Bayern’s stunning demolition of
Manchester Ciy at the Etihad earlier in the
season, it appeared as if Guardiola was
poised to create Bayern 2.0. Instead, he has
turned last season’s treble winners into
Barcelona 2012.
The Catalan had claimed after his side’s
first-leg defeat in the Spanish capital that he
was proud of his players’ performance. He
felt that they deserved credit for having a 78
per cent share of possession. It immediately
evoked memories of Xavi pathetically
clinging to possession stats after Barcelona
had been humiliated 7-0 on aggregate by
Bayern in the semi-finals of last year’s
Champions League. Keeping the ball should
be a means to an end. For Xavi and former
Barca boss Guardiola, it seems, possession
has become the end in itself.
Serious questions must now be asked of
Guardiola’s footballing philosophy. ‘Tika-
taka’ was a revolutionary style of play. It
transformed Barcelona into one of the most
aesthetically pleasing sides the game has
ever seen. They were also incredibly
successful - until teams worked out how to
play against the Blaugrana ; how to shut
them down, how to isolate Lionel Messi.
When Guardiola left Camp Nou in 2012,
Barca had become predictable, one-
dimensional. Just like Bayern in recent
weeks and months.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After
taking over Jupp Heynckes' treble-winners
last summer, Guardiola was supposed to
take Bayern Munich to the next level.
Instead, he has taken them backwards.
And now his CV will come under review.
Once again, the role of La Masia in his
success at Camp Nou will be highlighted. As
will Barca's over-reliance on Messi. The
critics will argue that it's easy to stick to
one's principles when arguably the greatest
player of all time is always there to defend
them.
There's also the fact that Guardiola failed
embarrassingly during his time at Camp Nou
to adequately address Barcelona’s glaring
defensive deficiencies (Dmytro Chygrynskiy,
anyone?).
Worryingly, during his one-year sabbatical,
Guardiola does not seem to have improved,
developed, evolved. The same failings and
flaws are still there. The same oversights are
being made. All season long, it has been
clear that Bayern are vulnerable in the centre
of defence. All season long, they have held a
ludicrously high line. Both were brutally
exposed by Madrid over the course of 180
excruciating minutes for Bayern fans, who
now know how their Barcelona counterparts
felt just 12 months ago.
Having already claimed the Bundesliga in
record-breaking time, and with a DFB-Pokal
final against Borussia Dortmund to come,
Guardiola could yet claim a double in his
first season in Bavaria. However, as Die Welt
made clear on Tuesday morning: “Only the
Champions League counts.” Guardiola took
over one of the strongest squads the
European game has ever seen and Bayern
did not just fail to defend their title, they did
so spectacularly.
Indeed, the Munich daily Abendzeitung had
told Bayern's players "You are the kings!"
ahead of Tuesday's meeting with Madrid. The
fans had also come to the Allianz Arena
expecting to see an inauguration. Instead
they experienced humiliation. And Guardiola
must take all of the blame for that.
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