Guardiola enjoys wide dominance over Italian clubs, but an unpleasant defeat against Mourinho’s Inter

MADRID – Pep Guardiola faces his second Champions League final in a shirt Manchester city. This weekend, the Blue Sky residents face off Inter de Milana team with unpleasant memories for the Catalan coach.

And it is that Guardiola faced Italian clubs 14 times in the official competition, with a record of nine wins, four draws and one defeat. However, it was that defeat that led to such a painful elimination in the semi-finals of the Champions League of the 2009/10 season against Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

That night, the Camp Nou surrendered to the feet of one of the best teams in football history. In the first leg, the Nerazzurri won 3-1 and the Catalans had to overcome an opposite result. This wasn’t the first time, but it wasn’t usual either. The goal was not easy because Mourinho’s Inter was a very disciplined and difficult team.

According to Mourinho himself will admit after the match, the key was the marks staggered in Lionel Messi So that the Argentine does not have the usual freedom of movement he always had. In the second leg, Guardiola and his team couldn’t go from 1-0 with that amazing goal from Pique in a match that saw it all: from a goal nullified by the defender himself to Mourinho’s celebration marred by the famous sprinkles that came. So that the Portuguese do not celebrate passing the final on the grass.

That match set the precedent for the famous rivalry that, months later, both coaches would star in with the arrival of Mo Fei real madrid.

Back in the Champions League, it is curious that Guardiola once again faces those old ghosts. And even more so when everyone gives their favorite Manchester City. The Catalan has changed and learned many lessons over the years. He knows that to his critics, it doesn’t matter what he does: if he wins it will be natural, as they themselves say, “The city buys the best and so does anyone…”; If he loses, for the haters, it will still be “this failure…”.

The same failure that still prevails in England with a way of playing that amazes the whole world every year. The same failure that changes the way the teams you’re in the league with play. The same failure that revolutionized football 15 years ago. The same failure that the greats of Europe feared.

It will be a special day and night in which Guardiola and, by extension, City have more than just a game at stake, an entry in football history.