PEP'S CUBS

Pep Guardiola moulded two Ballon d'Or winners. And he had different methods for Messi and Rodri

- KARTHIK RAVINDRANATH

Manchester City were struggling. Over an hour into the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League final, they had failed to break down a resolute Inter Milan. City were trying to match the feat of their Manchester rivals—a European treble. But, as the match wore on, their Italian opponents had looked increasingly comfortable in defence and given the City defence some scares. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne had been forced off in the first half with an injury and 50-goal striker Erling Haaland had been neutralised. Pep Guardiola, who was trying to become the first manager to win two European trebles, had made no change since he introduced Phil Foden for De Bruyne. As it turned out, he did not need to; because, he had already done his work on the training ground.

Guardiola’s saviour that night was Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, better known as Rodri. His strike from just inside the box sealed City’s 1-0 win and the treble. “When I reference Pep, I have to talk with my hands; I have to find a table, or a board and I have to move around coffee cups, like he does,” Rodri wrote about his manager in The Players’ Tribune. “‘He will go here and then bang—you move here, into space. Bang.’ He added that final mental piece of the puzzle. ‘Seeing’ the game differently. ‘Feeling’ it—when to move into space, when to hold back. When to press, when to ease off.”