Pep Guardiola setting sights on becoming the greatest – and Abu Dhabi’s masterplan can make it a reality

As Pep Guardiola sat with his fourth Champions League medal around his neck, his mind went back to his very first, as a player with Barcelona in 1992.
“It was only the day after that I realised what I had done,” the Catalan said. In the most immediate terms, Guardiola has at last won the grand trophy that both he and Manchester City so desired, delivering the European Cup to Abu Dhabi. Guardiola himself has been an influential ambassador in this regard.

The club hierarchy of course went to him as he is the best manager in the world, maybe of all time, with this second treble and third Champions League offering persuasive arguments. If Guardiola hadn’t yet realised what he’d done, though, he obviously knew all of this had done something to the entire discussion around his role.

“It’s a big relief for the club . . . for the institution,” he said. “Now, nobody asks me if we will win the Champions League.”

They will ask how and why, though. That is the discussion that comes up after any great feat, as everyone seeks to take example from how such excellence was achieved. It does take on another dimension with City given the uncertainty that continues from the Premier League’s charges, although the club insists upon its innocence.

While Alex Ferguson did message Guardiola due to their personal relationship, it was conspicuous that no other Premier League club offered official congratulations to City through their social media channels. A “fury” persists within the competition.

Guardiola persists at City, though, despite a previous feeling he would leave once the Champions League was secured. Those who know him now believe he doesn’t just want to retain the trophy, but win his fourth and fifth, as a manager, to truly secure his legacy as the greatest ever. Guardiola of course has an ego too, even if it is more internalised than, say, Jose Mourinho’s. It’s really a prerequisite at this sort of level.

He is now seeking to go a level beyond. Guardiola wants to do what he could and should have done as manager of Barcelona, when that great side came so close to winning four Champions Leagues rather than just two.

The Camp Nou, and La Masia, is what so much of this story goes back to. One of many echoes around the game right now, though, is many pointing out that 2008-’12 period of success is covered by charges against Barcelona for payments made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee. The sport has an increasing legitimacy crisis, as interests like autocratic states and private equity approach it from all angles.

Those close to Guardiola insist he did not know anything about this.