Why Barca Guardiola is that gd?

Towards the end of the season, during late April and most of May, I spent a lot of time talking to players and technical staff at Manchester United in preparation for the big final against Barca.

What I found was that Ronaldo was in regular contact with three of them and also with others around the Carrington training ground I don't know.

Ronaldo was often on the phone, or would text, in order to get off his chest how frustrating a club he has found Madrid in comparison to United.

The in-fighting at the Bernabeu, the outrageously partisan media in Spain, the enormous and confusing chain of command at Madrid, the lack of major trophies, the defensive, counter-attack mentality that his coach José´ Mourinho used against Barcelona in the Champions league semi-final.

Ronaldo would even phone up the United kitman Albert Morgan for a natter.

In summary, he kept telling his former club mates that his ''grass-might-be-greener'' dream of playing for Real Madrid is a disappointment.

He finds Madrid less well run corporately than United, he feels far more exposed to media dog-fights than he did in England (''is he happy?'', ''should he pass more?'', ''has Ronaldo had a bust-up with Iker Casillas?'') and above all, he misses the 100 per cent authority that his old boss and, let's face it, friend Sir Alex commands at United.

Several of the people who noted to me that Ronaldo was ''homesick'' for Old Trafford added that he would often use the phrase ''if it wasn't for the horrible weather over there then I'd actually consider …''

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"It has been proven that Guardiola is more important than the players. Of course, he always says that's not the case, but what else can he do? You can't claim you are the best,"

"Just have a look at the players. Where was Pique before Guardiola? Or Pedro? Busquets? Those players have become phenomenons under Guardiola's guidance. There's obviously a bit of luck involved, but it's madness to say that Guardiola is only successful because of his players."

"They are very similar conceptually. However, there was a huge difference between them when it mattered most on the pitch. There are many coaches like Mourinho, but nobody is like Guardiola."

"99.9% of the coaches are jealous of Barcelona's way of playing. They all want to be Guardiola. But they don’t know how."

"When I won the cup with Barça, that was a small trophy. Now Madrid win it and it's as if they won the World Cup."

The first time I saw Busquets playing, I called a friend and said: 'I saw a player from an extinct species'. An absolute talent."