Pep Guardiola is often seen as a tactical savant in the world of football, a sort of mad genius who can take on any situation and find a way to work his squad into something that can get a win. That reputation was put to the test as his Bayern Munich team faced off against Diego Simeone and Atlético Madrid on Wednesday in the Champions League semifinals -- and he came up short, losing 1-0 thanks in large part for Guardiola being uncharacteristically slow to respond to the changes in the match in front of him.
Pep Guardiola waited too long to fix what wasn’t working
Atlético Madrid got a first-leg win over Bayern Munich largely because Pep Guardiola was far too slow to respond to his team’s weaknesses in the match.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Guardiola's tactical madness-slash-genius was on display before the first whistle even sounded, naming a starting lineup that had many scratching their heads. Not only did it have his now-characteristic lack of a natural central defender in it, but Guardiola also left star forward and Bayern talisman Thomas Müller on the bench, a decision that drew some criticism before the match.
It was an idea that made sense in principle however -- Guardiola's lineup had speed on the wings to keep Atlético honest on the counter, and enough quality passers and presence in midfield to help minimize the threat of the high press and disruptive style employed by Simeone's team. Even the lack of a big central defender didn't seem like a huge issue, as Atléti feature a smaller, nimbler attack better blunted by the likes of David Alaba and Javi Martinez anyway.
In practice, though, things didn’t go so smoothly. Bayern’s midfield got too stagnant, the back line was too exposed to runs from wide areas, and the attack got bogged down by Atlético’s staunch determination. When the Spaniards scored -- rather spectacularly at that -- it seemed like we would be seeing Guardiola making some changes to unlock his team’s potential sooner rather than later, especially when their initially fiery response got beaten down.
But Guardiola waited. And he waited. And he waited.
Finally, finally, in the 64th minute Guardiola went to his bench, bringing the guile and trickery of Franck Ribery on in place of the speed of Kingsley Coman. It wasn't the change that fans expected -- that being to bring on Muller -- but it did help to add some much-needed teeth to Bayern's attack, especially as Coman had been struggling to get into the box effectively against Juanfran.
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Then in the 70th minute, Müller finally stepped onto the pitch, and Bayern’s attack instantly got much, much more dangerous. Bayern were much improved after Ribery and Müller came on, looking more effective and nasty in attack -- but it was too little, too late. Atléti had already withdrawn into a bunker, and while Bayern were able to turn up the pressure, they couldn’t get their opponents to crack and give up an away goal.
It was bizarre to see Guardiola wait so long to make those changes, and ultimately waiting so long cost Bayern in this match. There have been plenty of times in the three years Pep has been in charge of the Bavarian club that we’ve seen him go to his bench early when things aren’t working, even in the first half of the match. He’s a manager who craves and demands perfection, and if things aren’t looking the way he wants them to, he’s not afraid to tear everything apart to put things in order.
On Wednesday, though, Guardiola waited. It was as uncharacteristic as it was curious. It’s far from certain that the result would have been any different if Guardiola had brought Müller and Ribery in earlier, because Atlético truly did put in a remarkable performance against the Germans. But it was clear that the introduction of those two players fixed a significant amount of the ills that Bayern were suffering in that match, so they would have stood a much better chance of getting something out of this first Champions League semifinal leg had Müller and Ribery spent more time on the pitch and less time sitting on the bench watching the action.
This isn’t to say that Guardiola has lost it, or that he’s a bad manager, or that Simeone somehow out-witted him. He just waited too long to make his changes, and it cost his team. Maybe he thought his original plan could pull something out -- we’ll likely never know why he waited so long. But he hesitated, and now Bayern have to dig themselves out of a hole in the second leg because of it.
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