This article is about the antique North African city. For the modern city see Marj; for the landscape and province called Barqah, see Cyrenaica. For other uses see Barca (disambiguation).

"Barce" redirects here. For the village in Poland, see Barce, Poland. For the true bug genus, see Barce (bug).

Barce (sometimes Barca) (Greek: Βάρκη, Arabic: برقة‎, Berber: Berqa) was an ancient Greek colony and later Roman, Byzantine, city in North Africa. It occupied the coastal area of what is modern day Libya. As a Greek city it was part of the Cyrenaican Pentapolis along with the city of Cyrene itself.

According to most archeologists, it was situated at Marj, but according to Alexander Graham at Tolmeitha (Ptolemais).^[1]

The city's name, Arabized as Barqah, came to refer to the former state and province of Cyrenaica.^[2]

History[link]

Barkē was founded by Greek colonists in the 7th century BC.

Early Christianity spread to the Pentapolis of North Africa from Egypt. Synesius of Cyrene (370–414), bishop of Ptolemais, received his instruction at Alexandria in both the Catechetical School and the Museion, and he entertained a great deal of reverence and affection for Hypatia, the last pagan Neoplatonists, whose classes he had attended. Synesius was raised to the episcopate by Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, in 410 A.D. Since the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., Cyrenaica had been recognized as an ecclesiastical province of the See of Alexandria, in accordance with the ruling of the Nicaean Fathers. The patriarch of the Coptic Church to his day includes the Pentapolis in his title as an area within his jurisdiction.^[3]

After often being destroyed and then restored, during the Roman period it became a mere borough but was, nevertheless, the site of a bishopric. Its bishop, Zopyros, was present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.^[4] The subscriptions at Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) give the names of two other bishops, Zenobius and Theodorus.

Barce was part of the Exarchate of Africa until it was conquered by the Arabs in AD 643–644 during the Islamic conquest of North Africa. It originally served as the capital of the Barqah province of the Caliphate. When the Ottoman Turks conquered the region in 1521 they used the Turkish form "Barka" for the province, but did not retain the city's status as its capital.

Barca is now a Roman Catholic titular see of Cyrenaica in Libya, Northern Africa, but vacant. The Eparchy of the Western Pentapolis was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria as the Pope of Alexandria was the Pope of Africa, the most senior position in The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church after the Pope was the Metropolitan of Western Pentapolis, but since its demise in the days of Pope John VI of Alexandria as a major Archiepiscopal Metropolis and now being held as a Titular See attached to another Diocese.

During World War II, a battle for Barce of the North African campaign was won on 5 February 1941 by the 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. The regiment remembers this battle through the naming of its facilities at its base at Enoggera, Barce Lines.

The modern city on the same site, Marj, grew up around a 19th century Turkish fort. It was developed by the Italians during their colonial dominance of Libya and today has a population of 120,000. The Italian settlement was severely damaged in a 1963 earthquake and is now largely abandoned. No remains of the ancient settlement are visible, but some of the finds made during the Italian period are on display in the museum at nearby Ptolemais.

Sources and references[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Barca.

•  "Barca". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• GigaCatholic – Titular sees
• Butler, The Arab Conquest of Egypt, p. 430
• Heinrich Gelzer, Patrum Nicaenorum nomina, p. 231
• Marquardt, Staatsverwaltung, I, p. 459
• Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)

References[link]

See also[link]

• Apollonia
• Ptolemais

Coordinates: 32°29′54″N 20°53′34″E / 32.49833°N 20.89278°E / 32.49833; 20.89278

Pep Guardiola

Personal information
Full name	Josep Guardiola i Sala
Date of birth	(1971-01-18) 18 January 1971 (age 41)
Place of birth	Santpedor, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
	Gimnàstic Manresa
1983–1990	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1992	Barcelona B	59	(5)
1990–2001	Barcelona	263	(6)
2001–2002	Brescia	11	(2)
2002–2003	Roma	4	(0)
2003	Brescia	13	(1)
2003–2005	Al-Ahli	18	(2)
2005–2006	Dorados	10	(1)
Total		378	(17)
National team
1991	Spain U21	2	(0)
1991–1992	Spain U23	12	(2)
1992–2001	Spain	47	(5)
1995–2005	Catalonia	7	(0)
Teams managed
2007–2008	Barcelona B
2008–2012	Barcelona
Honours Men's Football Competitor for  Spain Gold 1992 Barcelona Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛb ɡwəɾðiˈɔɫə]; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player. As a player, Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career with FC Barcelona. He was part of Johan Cruyff's "dream team" that won Barcelona's first European Cup. He also played for Brescia and Roma in Italy; Al-Ahli in Qatar; and for Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico while attending managing school. While playing in Italy, he served a four-month ban for a positive drug test although he was cleared of wrongdoing twice on appeal in 2009 before the Courts of Justice of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Federal Anti-Doping Courts of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).^[2] As an international, he played for Spain, and in friendly matches for Catalonia.

After retiring as a player, Guardiola became coach of FC Barcelona B. On 8 May 2008, Barcelona President Joan Laporta announced that Guardiola would succeed Frank Rijkaard as the first team manager. He signed his contract on 5 June 2008.^[3] In his first season as manager, Barcelona won the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest UEFA Champions League-winning manager ever. The following season, Guardiola and Barcelona won the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, bringing the manager's tally to the maximum of six trophies in six competitions in one year, thus completing the first ever sextuple.

On 8 September 2011, Guardiola was awarded the Catalan parliament's Gold Medal, the highest honour.^[4] On 9 January 2012, Guardiola received the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award, with 42% of the votes, ahead of Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson, who received 16%, and José Mourinho, coach of Real Madrid, who had 12%.^[5]

On 27 April 2012, Guardiola announced he would quit as Barcelona manager on 30 June, after achieving 14 titles in four years in charge of the club. He will be succeeded by his second-in-charge Tito Vilanova.

Club career[link]

FC Barcelona[link]

Guardiola beginning his football career

Born in Santpedor, Barcelona, Catalonia, Guardiola joined La Masia at the age of 13 and rose through the ranks at the youth academy of Barcelona for six years, making his début in 1990 against Cádiz CF. As Phil Ball writes in Morbo,

"In his first week at the club, Cruyff turned up unannounced at the 'Mini' stadium, a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by the youth and B teams. Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young lad playing on the right side of midfield. 'Guardiola – good lad' came the reply. Cruyff ignored the comment and told Rexach to move him into the middle for the second half, to play as pivote. It was a difficult position to adapt to and one not used by many teams in Spain at the time. 'Pep' Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved up into the first-team in 1990 he became the pivot of the Dream Team."^[6]

Johan Cruyff utilised the young defensive midfielder in the absence of the suspended Guillermo Amor. He became a first team regular in the 1991–92 season and at only 20 years old was a key component of a side that won La Liga and the European Cup. The prestigious Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo heralded Guardiola as the finest player in the world under the age of 21.

Cruyff's Dream Team went on to retain the La Liga title in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons. The side was strengthened by the recent signing of Romário, again reached the UEFA Champions League Final, but were humbled by Fabio Capello's Milan in Athens, and lost the match 0–4.

Cruyff left in 1996, with Barcelona finishing fourth in the 1994–95 season and third in the 1995–96 season, but Guardiola retained his position at the center of Barcelona's midfield. In the 1996–97 season, Barcelona, this time led by Bobby Robson, won three cups – the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España and the Cup Winners' Cup. Much of the Dream Team had by this time left, with new signings such as Luís Figo and Ronaldo taking over from Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. At the end of the 1997–98 season, Barcelona rejected offers from Roma and Parma (of around 300 million pesetas)^{[citation needed]} for Guardiola. After prolonged and complicated contract talks, Guardiola signed a new contract with the Catalan club which extended his stay until 2001.

A calf muscle injury ruled Guardiola out of most of the 1997–98 season, in which Barcelona won a league and cup double under new manager Louis van Gaal. He returned to action the following season and Barcelona once again won the league thanks largely to the performances of Rivaldo and Luís Figo. On 8 June 1998, Guardiola underwent surgery to try to solve once and for all the problems that he was experiencing with his calf which had led to him missing the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Spain. A largely disappointing 1999–2000 season ended once again in surgery as Guardiola missed the last three months of the season due to a serious ankle injury.

Barcelona didn't win any silverware during the 2000–01 season and finished fourth place in the league, but qualifying for the Champions League. On 11 April 2001, Barcelona's captain announced his intention to leave the club after 17 years of service. He stated that it was a personal decision and, in part, a response to what he perceived as football heading in a new, more physical, direction.^{[cite this quote]} On 24 June 2001, Guardiola played his last match with Barça in the last game of the season against Celta Vigo.^[7]

Guardiola played 479 games for the club, in 12 seasons in the Barcelona first team, winning 16 trophies. At the press conference after the Celta Vigo game, he said, "It's been a long journey. I'm happy, proud, happy with the way people treated me and I have made many friends. I cannot ask for more. I have had many years in the elite. I did not come to make history but to make my own history."^{[cite this quote]} Guardiola was slow, but intelligently gifted with skill and foresight, rarely scored goals but set up from difficult positions on the field,^{[original research?]} he won six league titles, a European Cup and Olympic gold, amongst other numerous trophies. Born in the Catalan town of Santpedor, schooled barely 100 metres from Camp Nou and resident at La Masia, the traditional farmhouse that stands incongruously in its shadow, he was a part of a gifted side Barcelona produced, ordering, constructing, constantly moving the ball. He has been called the hero of a number of Spain's current midfielders, as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Cesc Fàbregas have all stated that Guardiola was their role model and hero.^[8]

Serie A[link]

After leaving Barcelona in 2001 at the age of 30, Guardiola was linked with several clubs such as Newcastle United, Manchester United, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool, plus both Milanese clubs of Milan and Internazionale.^{[citation needed]} But Guardiola joined Italian side Brescia and then Roma in the Italian Serie A. His time in Italy, however, was unhappy and included a four month ban after testing positive for Nandrolone. Six years later, on 23 October 2007, Guardiola was cleared on appeal of all charges that had led to the ban.^[9] However, CONI reopened the case against the player, because it considered the argumentation of the absolution unacceptable,^[10] but he was cleared once again on 29 September 2009.^[11] His time in Italy was not nearly as successful as his career at Barcelona. He played a number of Coppa Italia games and UEFA Champions League games, finishing with 71 games in Italy.

Al-Ahli[link]

After his career with Brescia and Roma, in 2003 Guardiola chose to play in Qatar with Al-Ahli from Doha in the Qatar Stars League, where many fellow greats were playing, such as Gabriel Batistuta. He had rejected another offer from Manchester United, as he wanted to play elsewhere. He became a regular in the Qatar Stars League, often cited as one of the best players in the League.^{[citation needed]} In 2005–06, he turned down offers from a number European sides, such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, as he felt his playing career was coming to a close.^[12]

Dorados de Sinaloa[link]

In 2006, when Juan Manuel Lillo was appointed manager of Mexican club Dorados de Sinaloa, he recruited Guardiola to play for the club, while he was in managing school in Axocopán, Atlixco, Puebla. He subsequently played for six months, before retiring definitively.

International career[link]

Spain[link]

Guardiola made his senior debut on 14 October 1992 in 0–0 draw with Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in a World Cup qualifier. In the same year, Guardiola captained Spain when they won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games. It was in this year when he won the Bravo Award, voted the world's best player under the age of 21. Between 1992 and 2001, Guardiola was a regular midfield maestro, playing over 47 times and scoring five goals for the senior Spain team, as a midfield player. He was a member of the Spain team during the 1994 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals, losing to Italy 2–1. He fell out of favour with Javier Clemente, the Spain manager, due to difference and disagreement between the two, and missed out on Euro 1996. He suffered a career-threatening injury in 1998, which kept him out of the 1998 World Cup, but he later played at Euro 2000, where he led Spain to yet another quarter-final appearance, this time losing to France by the same margin, 2–1. He led the Spain midfield until his final appearance for Spain, in 1–0 win in a friendly against Mexico on 14 November 2001, and scoring his last international goal against Sweden in a 1–1 draw, in his 45th appearance.^[13][14]

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 December 1992	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Latvia	2–0	5–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2.	27 June 1994	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Bolivia	0–1	1–3	1994 World Cup
3.	14 December 1996	Mestalla, Valencia, Spain	Yugoslavia	1–0	2–0	1998 World Cup qualification
4.	12 February 1997	José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Malta	1–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualification
5.	3 June 2000	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	0–1	1–1	Friendly

Catalonia[link]

Guardiola has also played for and has served as an advocate of the Catalonia football team. Between 1995 and 2005, he played seven friendly games for Catalonia's national team.^[15]

Coaching career[link]

Barcelona B[link]

Guardiola was appointed coach of FC Barcelona B on 21 June 2007 with Francesc Vilanova his assistant. Under his guidance, the team subsequently won their Tercera División group and qualified for the 2008 Segunda División B playoffs, which the team won, thereby achieving promotion.^[16] FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced before the end of the 2007–08 season that Guardiola would be appointed manager of FC Barcelona to replace Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season.^[17]

Barcelona[link]

2008–09 season[link]

Guardiola in 2009

Upon being appointed, Guardiola revealed that Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o and others were not part of his plans for the coming season. By the time of the announcement, Guardiola had already offloaded full back Gianluca Zambrotta to Milan, attacking midfielder Giovani dos Santos to Tottenham Hotspur, and midfielder Edmílson to Villarreal.^[18] Deco went to Chelsea, while Ronaldinho joined Zambrotta in Milan. Lilian Thuram was initially going to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer but the discovery of a heart condition put a stop to the move, and the veteran retired to tend to his health. Oleguer Presas signed with Ajax, Santiago Ezquerro was released by Barça and Marc Crosas was sold to Celtic. The fate of Samuel Eto'o took much of the summer to unravel, with the Cameroonian linked with several clubs, but Guardiola finally declared that he would stay after his dedication in training and participation in the pre-season.

In association with Barça's director of sport, Txiki Begiristain, several new signings were made by Guardiola: Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita arrived from Sevilla, Martín Cáceres from Villarreal by way of Recreativo, Gerard Piqué returned from Manchester United, and Alexander Hleb was signed from Arsenal. Henrique was also signed from Palmeiras, but was immediately loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen.^[19] In interviews with the press, Guardiola stressed a harder work ethic than before, but also a more personal approach during training and a closer relationship with his players. Along with the new signings, Guardiola promoted canteranos Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodríguez and Jeffrén Suárez to the first team squad.

Guardiola's first competitive game as coach was in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, in which Barça comfortably beat Polish club Wisła Kraków 4–0 at home. They then lost 1–0 in Kraków, but progressed with a 4–1 aggregate victory. Promoted Numancia also defeated Barcelona in the opening match-day of the La Liga, but the team then went on an undefeated streak for over 20 matches to move to the top of the league. Barça maintained their spot atop La Liga's table, securing their first league title since 2006 when rivals Real Madrid lost at Villarreal on 16 May 2009. The most important match however was on 2 May when they defeated Real Madrid 2–6 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Guardiola celebrating Barcelona's 2009 UEFA Champions League Final with Manuel Estiarte

The league title was the second piece of silverware in Guardiola's first season at the Camp Nou. On 13 May 2009, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, defeating Athletic Bilbao 4–1.

Guardiola finished the season by leading Barça to the final of the Champions League, where they beat Manchester United 2–0. In doing so, they became the first Spanish club to win the domestic cup, league, and European club titles (the treble) in the same season.^[20] Furthermore, Guardiola became the youngest man to coach a Champions League winning team.^[21]

2009–10 season[link]

During Guardiola's second season as manager Barcelona traded Samuel Eto'o and €49 million for Zlatan Ibrahimović. The club also signed Maxwell from Internazionale and Dmytro Chygrynskiy from Shakhtar Donetsk. Many players left the club on the same transfer window; Eiður Guðjohnsen was sold to Monaco, Sylvinho and Albert Jorquera's contracts ended and other players were loaned out, including Alexander Hleb to Stuttgart, Martín Cáceres to Juventus, Alberto Botía to Sporting de Gijón and Víctor Sánchez to Xerez.

Barcelona started the season defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish SuperCup and Shakhtar Donetsk in the European SuperCup. On 25 September 2009, Barcelona gave Guardiola his 50th professional victory, away against Málaga and on 19 December, they were crowned Club World Cup champions for the first time in their history. Guardiola finished the calendar year 2009 with a record six trophies, the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup, becoming the first manager in history to do so.

After winning every trophy they competed for in 2009, Barcelona suffered their first elimination under Guardiola in January 2010 against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. January 2010 also saw Guardiola become Barcelona's longest serving Spanish coach, overtaking the record previously held by Josep Samitier. That same month, on the 20th, he agreed to a one-year contract extension to keep him with Barcelona until the end of the 2010–11 season.^[22] February of the same year saw Guardiola coach his one hundredth match for Barcelona's first team. His record stood at 71 wins, 19 draws and 10 losses with 242 goals for and 76 against.^[23] On 10 April 2010, he became the first manager in Barcelona's history to beat Real Madrid four times in a row in El Clásico.^{[citation needed]}

Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the 2009–10 Champions League, but lost 3–2 on aggregate to Internazionale.^[24] Despite this they managed to win their 20th La Liga title with 99 points by beating Real Valladolid 4–0 at home.^[25] The highest points total ever gained amongst any of Europe's major leagues.^[26] The La Liga title was Guardiola's seventh trophy as manager of the club, tying Ferdinand Daučík for second behind Johan Cruyff and his 11 trophies.

On 8 June 2010, the Royal Spanish Football Federation fined Guardiola €15,000, following a formal inquiry opened by the Competition Committee regarding his actions and comments during and after a match against Almeria on 6 March 2010.^[27] Guardiola approached the fourth official with, according to the official report, malicious intent, berating the official and speaking into his microphone with phrases such as, "You are calling everything wrong." Following the match, Guardiola accused Carlos Clos Gomez and his assistant Jose Luis Gallego Galdino of "lying" in their match report. Barcelona were given 10 days to appeal the sanction. TV replays supported Guardiola's assertions. The game ended 2–2.

2010–11 season[link]

Guardiola's third season in charge saw the departure of two players who had arrived last season, Dmytro Chygrynskiy returned to Shakhtar Donetsk and Zlatan Ibrahimović moved to Milan. Rafael Márquez and Thierry Henry were released from their contracts and moved to New York Red Bulls, Yaya Touré also left the team and moved to Manchester City. The club signed Adriano from Sevilla, David Villa from Valencia CF and Javier Mascherano from Liverpool.

On 14 July 2010, Guardiola signed a new contract to stay with Barcelona until June 2011.^[28] On 21 August, Barcelona beat Sevilla 5–3 on aggregate to win the 2010 Spanish Supercup, his second in a row. On 29 November 2010, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5–0, giving Guardiola five straight wins in as many matches in El Clásico.^{[citation needed]} On 8 February 2011, Guardiola accepted the club's offer for a one-year deal extension, signing a contract until June 2012.^[29] On 16 February, in the first leg of the Champions League First Knockout Round, Barcelona were defeated by Arsenal 1–2 at the Emirates Stadium. The defeat prolonged Guardiola's record of never having won the away leg of a Champions League knockout tie. On 8 March, in the second leg of the Champions League First Knockout Round, Barcelona defeated Arsenal 3–1 thus winning 4–3 on aggregate, moving them into the quarter-finals.

Early April saw Barcelona move eight points clear of second placed Real Madrid in their domestic league, after a key away win against Villareal CF, making the most of Real Madrid's home loss against Sporting Gijón earlier on the same day. Barcelona managed to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth year (three last under Guardiola) in a row after thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 6–1 on aggregate.

Following the Champions League campaign, Barcelona continued their La Liga crusades for the second El Clásico in the Santiago Bernabéu which ended 1–1. Messi scored for his team from penalty spot after Raúl Albiol was sent off. It was later replied by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from a penalty kick in the 80th minute of the match.

Guardiola suffered his first final defeat during Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for in the 103rd minute of the match during extra time, giving the club the first title since 2008, as well as José Mourinho's first title in his new club.

In the Champions League, however, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu in the semi-final first leg, and after a 1–1 draw at Camp Nou they proceeded to Guardiola's second Champions League final in three years as coach for Barcelona.^[30] On 11 May 2011, Barcelona won the title and third in a row after a 1–1 draw with Levante UD.^[31][32] On 28 May, Barcelona beat Manchester United 3–1 to win the Champions League.^[33]

2011–12 season[link]

Guardiola's fourth season in charge started with the departure of three players who had been part of the team for a long time, Gabriel Milito moved back to Independiente, Jeffrén Suárez was sold to Sporting CP and Bojan Krkić was sold to Roma. Two big signings were made: Alexis Sánchez came from Udinese for €26m plus bonuses and Cesc Fàbregas, a former La Masia graduate, returned from Arsenal for €29m plus bonuses. To complete the squad two players where promoted from the youth system: Thiago Alcântara and Andreu Fontàs.

The season started with a 5–4 aggregate win over Real Madrid for the Spanish Super Cup.^[34] Barcelona won their second trophy of the season on 26 August beating Porto in the UEFA Super Cup final 2–0.^[35] With the trophy won against Porto he became all-time record holder of most titles won as a coach at FC Barcelona. He has won now 12 trophies in only three years.^[36] November of the same year saw Guardiola coach his two hundredth match for Barcelona's first team. His record stood at 144 wins, 39 draws and 17 losses with 500 goals for and 143 against.^[37]

Barcelona ended the 2011 calendar year winning the Club World Cup, beating Santos 4-0, the widest margin in a Intercontinental Cup/Club World Cup final since changing to a single match format. This was Guardiola's 13th title of only 16 tournaments played.^[38]

On 9 January 2012, he was named FIFA Mens World Coach of the Year. On his 41st birthday, he led his side to a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico, ensuring that he remained unbeaten against Real Madrid in regular time as a manager.

On 21 April, Guardiola conceded the league title to leaders Real Madrid, after they beat Barcelona 2-1 and extended their lead in the table to seven points with four matches remaining. "We have to congratulate Madrid for their win and the title that they have also won tonight," said Guardiola, after what was his side's first loss at home all season.^[39] Three days later, a 2-2 draw at home against Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final knocked Barcelona out of the competition on a 2-3 aggregate score. That effectively left the team with only the Copa del Rey to play for.^[40] Guardiola had faced criticism over his recent tactics and squad selections.^[41][42]

On 27 April 2012, Guardiola announced he would step down as Barcelona's coach at the end of the 2011–12 season. He had been on a rolling contract that was renewed annually during his tenure as manager. Stating tiredness as the main reason for his decision, he also commented that four years at a club like Barça felt like an eternity.^[43] The team also announced that he would be succeeded by current assistant Tito Vilanova, who would begin leading the first team at the start of the 2012-13 season.^[44] Guardiola continued to lead Barcelona to wins in the remaining La Liga games of the season, followed by a 3-0 win in the Copa del Rey final. His record of 14 trophies in 4 seasons has made him the most successful coach in Barcelona's history.

Tactics[link]

Under Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona were known for a 4–3–3 with plenty of flair with Ronaldinho being the centre point of the attack. Under Guardiola the team has become more disciplined with a greater focus on possession and a far more disciplined and aggressive pressing style. He often plays a high defensive line with the full backs (particularly Daniel Alves) pushing high up down their respective sides while relying on the metronomic passing of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta to retain possession whilst employing an extraordinarily aggressive pressing style without the ball.^[45]

During Samuel Eto'o's time at Barcelona, Lionel Messi was deployed on the right hand side, however, since his departure Messi has largely played in the centre forward role fulfilling a false nine capacity.^[46]

During the 2011-12 season Guardiola made increasing use of the 3-4-3 system, especially when facing two attackers. Using Cesc Fàbregas as an attacking midfielder and Javier Mascherano or Sergio Busquets as pivot on the midfield. Johan Cruyff used this system as a basic tactical approach when Guardiola played for Barcelona. Guardiola used this system in a 5-0 win against Villarreal because he was short on defenders, and in a later Champions League game against Milan, he employed this tactic with most of his players available. "In Barcelona it is understood that you can win a thousand ways. All are valid. All work. There's little more to say," Guardiola wrote in a column for El Pais in March 2007, when Rijkaard experimented with a three-man backline of his own. "But in Barcelona it is also understood that you can never win and repeat in a way that does not feel right to you—that does not feel right to the directors, coaches, players, friends of the press and the people who go every week to see them."^[47]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2011)

Guardiola at Camp Nou

Pep Guardiola was born in Santpedor, to Dolors and Valentí. He has two older sisters, Francesca and Olga, and younger brother, Pere who is an agent for Liverpool striker Luis Suárez. Guardiola has a wife, Cristina Serra, whom he met the first time in a clothing store when he was 18. The couple have three children: Maria (born 28 December 2003), Màrius (born 2001) and Valentina (born 5 May 2008).^{[citation needed]}

Career statistics[link]

Club career statistics[link]

International statistics[link]

^[48]

Coaching statistics[link]

As of 14 May 2012

Honours[link]

Player[link]

Barcelona B

• Segunda División B (1): 1990-91

Barcelona

• La Liga (6): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey (2): 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España (4): 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996
• European Cup (1): 1991–92
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1996–97
• UEFA Super Cup (2): 1992, 1997

Spain

• Olympic Gold Medal (1): 1992

Individual[link]

• Bravo Award (1): 1992
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament (2): 1992, 2000
• Olympics – Spain Best Player (1): 1992

Manager[link]

Barcelona B

• Tercera División (1): 2007–08

Barcelona

• La Liga (3): 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Copa del Rey (2): 2008–09, 2011–12
• Supercopa de España (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League (2): 2008–09, 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup (2): 2009, 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup (2): 2009, 2011

Individual[link]

• IFFHS World's Best Club Coach of the Year (2): 2009, 2011
• Don Balon Award for Best Coach of the Year (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
• Onze d'Or Coach of the Year (2): 2009, 2011
• Miguel Muñoz Trophy (2): 2008–09, 2009–10
• World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year (2): 2009, 2011
• UEFA Team of the Year Best Coach (2): 2008–09, 2010–11
• La Liga Coach of the Year (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
• Catalan of the Year Award (1): 2009
• FIFA Ballon d'Or Best Coach (1): 2011

Orders and special awards[link]

• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit : 2010^[49]

Bibliography[link]

• (Catalan) Josep Guardiola, La meva gent, el meu futbol, with Miguel Rico and Luís Martín, Edecasa (Grupo Z), Colección Sport, 2001
• (Spanish) Jaume Collell, Pep Guardiola: de Santpedor al banquillo del Barça, Península, 2009
• (Catalan) Josep Riera Font, Escoltant Guardiola: el pensament futbolistic i vital de l'entrenador del Barça en 150 frases, Cossetania, 2009
• (Catalan) Several authors, Paraula de Pep, Ara Llibres, 2009
• (Spanish) Several authors, Barça de las 6 Copas, Edecasa (Grupo Z), Colección Sport, 2009

See also[link]

• List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers
• List of sportspeople cleared of doping charges
• Pep Team

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Josep Guardiola

• Josep Guardiola (2008–) FC Barcelona
• Player profile – Josep Guardiola Sala BDFutbol
• Manager profile – Josep Guardiola Sala BDFutbol
• Pep Guardiola – Performance data Transfermarkt
• Guardiola – National team data (Spanish) Fútbol en la Red
• Pep Guardiola at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mythical players – Josep Guardiola FC Barcelona
• Pep Guardiola – FIFA competition record

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Alex Ferguson Manchester United	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 2008–09	Succeeded by José Mourinho Internazionale
	European Treble Winning Coach Barcelona 2008–09
Preceded by Manuel Pellegrini	Miguel Muñoz Trophy 2008–09 2009–10	Succeeded by José Mourinho
Preceded by José Mourinho	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 2010–11	Succeeded by Roberto Di Matteo
Preceded by José Mourinho	FIFA Ballon d'Or Best Coach 2011	Succeeded by Incumbent
Sporting positions
Preceded by Gheorghe Popescu	FC Barcelona Captain 1997–2001	Succeeded by Sergi Barjuán
Preceded by Frank Rijkaard	FC Barcelona Manager 2008–2012	Succeeded by Tito Vilanova

Spain squads v t e Spain squad – 1992 Summer Olympics Gold Medalists 1 Cañizares 2 Ferrer 3 Lasa 4 Solozábal 5 López 6 Villabona 7 Amavisca 8 Luis Enrique 9 Guardiola 10 Abelardo 11 Manjarín 12 Paqui 13 Toni 14 Vidal 15 Soler 16 Miguel 17 Berges 18 Pinilla 19 Kiko 20 Alfonso Coach: Miera v t e Spain squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta (c) 2 Ferrer 3 Otero 4 Camarasa 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Goikoetxea 8 Guerrero 9 Guardiola 10 Bakero 11 Begiristain 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Juanele 15 Caminero 16 Miñambres 17 Voro 18 Alkorta 19 Salinas 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Lopetegui Coach: Clemente v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Cañizares 2 Salgado 3 Aranzábal 4 Guardiola 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro (c) 7 Helguera 8 Fran 9 Munitis 10 Raúl 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Casillas 14 Gerard 15 Engonga 16 Mendieta 17 Etxeberria 18 Paco 19 Velasco 20 Urzaiz 21 Valerón 22 Molina Coach: Camacho