And so ended a majestic reign of one of the most charismatic football coaches ever to have led FC Barcelona. Guardiola goes out in style with a superb 3 nil win at the Vicente Calderón stadium in the Spanish Cup final.
The game started as predictable as ever with Barca turning up the heat from the get go. What Athletic Bilbao didn’t predict was Pedro finding the net on 3 minutes into the game. It looks like Pedro is returning to his old form after a few months of below par performances.
It was typical end to end stuff and Barca quickly found their groove. Messi came knocking at 24 minutes and scored a corker which hit the top of the net and gave the keeper no chance whatsoever. Athletic were 2 nil down and were left bewildered.
Then just four minutes after Pedro popped up again and struck home Barca’s third and final goal of the game. They did it for Pep Guardiola – it was Barca’s final leaving present for their trainer.
The second half was pretty much the same and it is very difficult to come back from a 3 goal deficit, believe me! Even Bielsa, Athletic Bilbao’s coach said after the game that his team hadn’t lived up to the expectations of the Bilbao fans.
It was a typical faultless performance by the Catalan giants and one youngster that impressed me was Montoya – a great player for the future.
Tito Vilanova now has to carry Pep’s torch and carry on with the “idea” that Guardiola has left in his legacy. Pep has built the foundations for a solid team that can be built upon and now it’s up to Vilanova to step up to the mark and show us what he’s got.