Pep Guardiola's ‘magical touch’ inspired Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, claims Dani Alves
The Brazilian defender says his former coach is a great man-manager as well as a supreme tactician
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Your support makes all the difference.Pep Guardiola's “magical touch” with players and methodical preparations ensured his success at Manchester City has come as no surprise to former Barcelona defender Dani Alves.
The Premier League champions raised the bar last season, amassing a record tally of 100 points, 19 clear of nearest rivals Manchester United, scoring more than a century of goals along the way.
City host United on Sunday looking to lay down another marker, having followed up the trashing of Southampton by taking a step towards the Champions League round of 16 with 6-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night.
Alves was part of Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona side who won La Liga three times between 2008 and 2011, a domestic Copa del Rey double and also the Champions League twice.
The 35-year-old Brazilian defender, currently recovering from a serious knee injury at Paris Saint-Germain, revealed how Guardiola's man-management skills helped create such a successful environment within Camp Nou.
“It was key for our success, not only for me as a person, but for all of us in a collective way,” Alves said. “He knew how to treat us as human beings and that was very important.
“When things went wrong, Pep always had the solution, he always had this magical touch which allowed us to improve.
“He told me something which I was really surprised with, that he was going to teach me how to play without the ball, so I learned how to play without a ball thanks to him.”
Asked if Guardiola’s spectacularly successful transition to German football with Bayern Munich and then to the Premier League with City had surprised him, Alves replied: “You are surprised when you are not prepared for a challenge. When you know that the person you are talking about will be prepared, then it is not a surprise at all.”
Alves looked back on his Barcelona career under Guardiola in 'Take The Ball, Pass The Ball', which documents how the side conquered both Spain and Europe, taking on the mantle of Johan Cruyff's vision on the way the game should be played.
“It was very special for me, all done in a more relaxed way, to see what you did and were part of, but also with a different point of view from when you were doing it all live,” said the right-back, signed from Sevilla in July 2008.
During the closing comments in the film, Guardiola reflected on how his side would be viewed in 25 years’ time, compared to other great teams such as that of Cruyff's Ajax, Brazil with Pele or AC Milan under Arrigo Sacchi.
For Alves, the legacy of their Nou Camp team will always be “unique” – and one shared by the rest of the football world.
The defender concluded: “And that is not only for people who like Barcelona, this was a team for all people who like football.”
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