“It Was Men Against Boys”- Rio Ferdinand on Losing to Pep Guardiola & Lionel Messi’s ‘Nasty’ Barcelona in Wembley

Pep Guardiola is regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of soccer. Whatever he touches turns into gold, as the Spanish tactician has managed to change the fortunes of all the clubs he has worked at. But nothing can match what he conquered at FC Barcelona. In fact, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has hailed Guardiola’s 2011 Barca side as the ‘real Pep’s team.’ 

The declaration came in Episode 10 of The Obi One Podcast, where hosts John Obi-Mikel and Chris McHardy invited Rio Ferdinand. Interestingly, McHardy kept one of the most debated questions among the Red Devils’ fanbase in front of the former English defender, asking which Barcelona side was better; 2009 or 2011. Without taking any pause, he quickly said ‘2011’ and along with the succinct answer, he gave an interesting explanation.  

He said, “We got beat, but we could have won that game. We had chances in the first 10-15 minutes, it would have been 3-0 and the game was very different. But they were a great team, they’d got Eto’o, Messi, Thierry Henry. They were a great team still then but the way the team played at Wembley, it was men against boys.” While praising Guardiola’s Barca evolution, he said, “He was starting out 09 and all of a sudden, through to 11′. This is Pep. This was the real Pep’s team. The 11 team was nasty. They’d beat any team in the club’s history.”

Notably, Ferdinand and Manchester United had to suffer the wrath of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in both of the Champions League finals, having lost 2-0 and 3-1, respectively. Either way, it is quite a huge claim from Ferdinand. Interestingly, the former player wasn’t alone, as even his then-coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, was also left in awe of Guardiola. 

Sir Alex Ferguson wanted Pep Guardiola to carry forward his legacy

In the year 2015, Sir Alex Ferguson disclosed in his book, ‘Leading,’ that he had made contact with Pep Guardiola about managing Manchester United in the future. “I had dinner with Pep Guardiola in New York in 2012, but couldn’t make him any direct proposal because retirement was not on my agenda at that point,” wrote Sir Alex.

READ MORE: Gerard Pique Reveals the Biggest Difference Between Pep Guardiola & Sir Alex Ferguson- “He Wasn’t Even Going to the Trainings”

The Scottish manager revealed that he ‘admired Pep greatly’ because he had won ‘an enviable number of trophies’ with Barcelona. “I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club, but he didn’t and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013,” said Sir Alex. Rest as you all know, is history, as today we can see Guardiola creating history with the arch-rivals of Manchester United. 

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