Pep Guardiola Set To Face Bayern Munich

It must have been fate that Pep Guardiola’s first game in charge of Manchester City would be against his previous club Bayern Munich.

In three years at Bayern, Guardiola brought three consecutive titles and a host of lesser trophies, while taking them to another level. But, ultimately, he left the club wondering what he had to do to win the Champions League again.

Three semifinal defeats might look and feel like small change to fans in Bavaria, but for City that would represent a clear upward curve in terms of achievement. City’s top brass, are of course, looking to European success in the hope that the Spaniard can deliver the club to the brink of (and perhaps into) the European elite.

That Manuel Pellegrini followed the blueprint to a large degree last season — leading City to a semifinal defeat to Real Madrid — has already sounded a warning to the competition. However, the disappointing nature of the 1-0 aggregate defeat won the Chilean few admirers and a stodgy domestic campaign (finishing fourth in the league) wrapped things up for Guardiola’s predecessor. Winning the League Cup was never going to be enough.

City’s upper management will be expecting the Spaniard to achieve more in double quick time. While nobody in their right mind takes preseason matches too seriously, City and Bayern have been busy working up a reputation in recent years for playing committed, high-scoring games when the fates have brought them together.

Indeed, in City’s early Champions League story, Bayern loomed large as one of the club’s most frequent opponents: six recent games providing fans with a total of 19 goals so far. Although still relatively new to such elevated company, City are beginning to bed in comfortably with the great names of continental football. That their only other warm up games this preseason will come against Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal suggests as much. The old trips to Stockport, Oldham and the Isle of Man seem a long way away from the prestige international preseason tournaments the club are participating in these days.

Although those players, who have been busy thus far in the close season trying to propel their respective national teams to Euro/Copa glory will not be part of the initial experiment, it will be intriguing to see what Guardiola has in store in his very first match in charge.

There are sure to be a clutch of youngsters promoted from youth team duties, while Guardiola will no doubt try out a seasoned pro in a totally new position. These are the stamps of a man who tinkers with the enthusiasm of an alchemist, experiments happily with shape and style, and is never quite content with what he’s got.

Guardiola’s enthusiasm should rub off on the players during the initial weeks of contact with the new coach and his staff. They will already be noticing the change of rhythm, the shift in emphasis in training drills, the surge of new ideas. The same process will of course be currently underway at Bayern too, with Carlo Ancelotti taking up the reins set down by Guardiola himself.

However, the Italian has already stated that he wishes to change little from Pep’s tenure; that it would be pointless to create upheaval in a place that was already running like clockwork. For City, things are very different. Pellegrini left with criticism ringing in his ears; players looked unfit or unwilling to run the extra yards for the Chilean; in-game tactics were slow to change to suit the flow of matches; a stubbornness to move things around produced questions at every tense news conference.

Guardiola is unlikely to make many more friends in the press than his predecessor. His unwavering focus is on the football, on the shapes his team will weave, on winning with energy and style, not on nurturing relationships with the men and women in the press box. Guardiola — unlike his competitor across the city at Old Trafford — is unwilling or maybe unable to play the charm offensive with the massed ranks of the press.

Mourinho’s charm offensive started at United several years before he actually showed up on the Old Trafford doorstep. United, like City, believe they have brought in the man to do the job. Both clubs are anticipating the start of the season with an excitement missing in recent years.

It is the start of a brand new cycle in this powerhouse football city and Wednesday’s trip to Bavaria cannot come quickly enough. Just five days later, Guardiola and Mourinho will lock horns for the first time in what could become a regular sparring contest. Let battle commence.