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
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.
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