The wrong kind of messy. Pep Guardiola held his hands up and admitted on Tuesday night that his Bayern Munich team had been made to look very much second best by Real Madrid in their 4-0 defeat at home to the Spanish side. It was the heaviest defeat in the Catalan's coaching career and raised question marks over the suitability of his possession philosophy at the Allianz Arena. Without Lionel Messi to turn to, Pep's powers appeared dramatically diminished.
At Barcelona, Guardiola knew the club inside out and implemented a style of play already familiar for the entire squad. The Catalans' one touch passing plan is instilled in footballers from a young age at La Masia. Pep had lived and breathed that football as a player, just like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi et al. So when he took over as coach and inherited that golden generation of players, the diamond was there. It just needed to be polished.
After winning the treble last season under Jupp Heynckes, Bayern's diamond was already polished, just not quite like how Pep liked it. Instead of adapting to his new players, however, Guardiola wants those footballers to get used to the methods that made his Barca side so brilliant between 2008 and 2012. But there's one problem: there's no Messi.
