The 41-year-old tactician will vacate the managerial hot seat in favour of assistant Tito Vilanova after a trophy laden four year spell at the Camp Nou.
Pep Guardiola took his first steps in football with Barcelona at the tender age of 12 years and has been associated with the Catalan club to this day.
The tenacious holding midfielder developed a reputation as a no nonsense holding midfielder in Catalonia and followed it up with a similar attitude in a coaching role.
In tandem with Zinedine Zidane, Guardiola hanged his playing boots in the summer of 2006 when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
While the French legend took a longer gap to return to footballing duties, his Catalan counterpart took control of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 B in 2007, leading them to promotion in their first year.
Such was the promise shown by the former Blaugrana captain that he was appointed as the first team coach with a modest working experience in the Spanish Segunda Division B.
Guardiola had a stiff task on his hands as he took charge of first team affairs in 2008. He had to stop Real Madrid from recording their third La Liga trophy in succession and try to make do with the resources he had at his disposal.
After leading Barcelona to an inauspicious start in La Liga, the Catalan showed his resilience in the pressure situation. Not only did he manage to return the Primera Division trophy to the Camp Nou, he also led La Blaugrana to UEFA Champions League and
Copa Del Rey honours; the latter being his first winners’ medal as a head coach.
The following campaign saw him continue the good work he had started. Barcelona managed to add an amazing four more trophies to the cabinet, with La Liga crown being the only major silverware overhaul. La Blaugrana failed to defend their Copa del Rey and
UEFA Champions League titles.
Guardiola’s penultimate season saw him add another three trophies, his third La Liga title and his second UEFA Champions League winners’ medal in three years. Such was the success achieved by the humble Santpedor native that he was alluded to as being one
of the finest world of football has ever seen.
The five foot eleven incher wrote the final chapter of his love affair with Les Cules in the same fashion he had started them. After winning the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid, European Super Cup against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 and FIFA Club World Cup, Guardiola
rounded off his time as Barcelona manager with Copa del Rey honours in his final match on May 25 at the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vicente-c36001 Calderon.
All in all, Guardiola enjoyed unprecedented success with the outfit from Catalonia, winning 14 trophies in the smallish time period of 4 years. Few have registered such magnanimous feats in the history of the beautiful game, and it looks likely that anyone
will.
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