Recalling the period of his reign at the Camp Nou, the former president of Barcelona Joan Laporta believes that it all began with the insult that Josep Guardiola inflicted on him.
"When I asked Guardiola if he was ready to lead the first team in Barcelona in 2008, he looked at me and said that I do not have the courage to appoint him, said that I do not have any eggs," Laporta told Sportmail. "But I understood very well that for us this is a win-win option and we take no chances. Pep is a person who will succeed with any team. When they tell me that things have not gone very well in Manchester City, I reply - wait a year ".
"If there was my will, I would do everything possible to ensure that he remained at the Camp Nou until the end of his coaching career. Now I'm enjoying the way he works in the Premier League. But its beginning in Manchester was strikingly different from Barcelona. In England, he was greeted as a messiah, and here he began under a hail of critical arrows. I knew that he could win a lot, but he won everything ... ".
"I remember when Johan Cruyff came to Barcelona. I was only 11, and I did not see any big wins. And suddenly everything changed. The same thing happened when he became coach of Barca. I'm not just a fan of him, I consider him a genius, the best player of the planet of his time, and it was his coaching ideas that were the beginning of the birth of the style that is now called Catalan. Guardiola became a worthy follower of ".
"What was the advantage of Guardiola in front of Cruyff?" That his team was Lionel Messi, who had already reached his peak. If I ask who I think are the best footballers of all time, I will say - Cruyff, Maradona and Messi. But Messi combines all the best that was in the first two, and still has in his arsenal a lot of his that is inaccessible to no one else. In 2006, Inter was ready to pay Klausul for Messi in 150 million euros, but I said then to Lionel's father: "You can advise your son to agree to the transition and win financially. But he will never win in Milan as many trophies as in Barcelona ". And was I wrong? ".
"Messi, Guardiola and all the other guys have brought me so many positive emotions that I will be grateful to them for the rest of my life. It's hard to say what became the most memorable ... Perhaps, after all, the victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2009. 2: 6 on the scoreboard and Carles Puyol, kissing the captain's armband - this picture is still in front of my eyes ".
"And yet the main strength of Barcelona in her heart.
The fact that the baby from La Masia goes all the way to the main team, then becomes her coach, and there, you see, and the president. It seems to me that eventually Guardiola will return to Barcelona and become its president. It will be great! But first he must succeed in Manchester City. And he will definitely achieve it! ".
During the presidency of Joao Laporta, Barcelona won 4 championships, the Cup and 3 Super Cups of Spain, 2 Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup.