Marathon man Guardiola: joy after blood, sweat and tears

An outburst of emotions overcame Pep Guardiola when Douglas Costa finished the last job and Bayern Munich wrapped up the 2016 German Cup final with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Borussia Dortmund.

The 45-year-old Spaniard started to kiss everyone close to him. Then he could not hold back his tears. He covered his face with his hands and cried. Guardiola was overwhelmed by his emotions at his last day working for Bayern Munich as he joins Manchester City for the next season.

After most football games, there's one question to be answered: Who was the man of the match? This time it was none of the players in yellow and red shirts, none of the contestants trying to score or prevent goals. The best performance was seen on the sidelines and the best performer this thrilling evening was Pep Guardiola.

The Spaniard was jumping up and down every single minute of the 120. He was running around most of the time far out of his coaching zone, doing more kilometers than his players. He was fighting his last fight. Once you saw him squatting next on the side of the pitch desperately looking like as if he was praying for destiny and salvation.

You saw a man who wanted to win his last game whatever happened knowing he had to win to feel happy and satisfied. His last game after three years was not supposed to go wrong. Three long years he tried to teach his idea of football with a fair degree of obsession. The idea of a dominating games, to eliminating the opponent with a passing machine he wanted his team to be. All the time, Guardiola was aiming to work, he was creating football art.

He and Bayern dominated the German Bundesliga like no other team before. But at the same time Guardiola failed to grab football's biggest crown, meaning to win the Champions League. Twice he was beaten by teams (Real and Atletico Madrid) who found an answer to his dominate style by counter attacking. Once he was beaten by his former club Barcelona not having his best squad available. Therefore he wanted to say good bye in Munich with his second "double" (German title and cup). The 2016 cup final was his last German battle. Team and coach at the same time were exhausted and to some extent annoyed after three intense years.

This time team and coach had to go beyond their limits as far as mind and body were concerned in these 120 minutes and the following penalty shoot-out. Guardiola's last dance turned out into a drama like act. Can you imagine something more thrilling than a penalty shoot-out after 120 minutes in extra time that were supposed to decide if the presumably the world's best coach had done a very good job or just a good job? That despite the fact it was a hard job in the first place as Bayern Munich had won the treble the year before Guardiola arrived.

Meaning, by winning three German titles and the German Cup twice, Guardiola's era would be regarded to be a very good one, not brilliant though, but very good in the end..

Guardiola's Bayern started with an attacking starting eleven as Franck Ribery (left) and Douglas Costa (right) occupied the positions down the flanks while Thiago and Thomas Mueller played behind spearhead Robert Lewandowski. Arturo Vidal was the "safety guard" in midfield in front of the four-man defense of David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Joshua Kimmich and Philipp Lahm which changed into a back-row of three when Bayern was in possession and Philipp Lahm joined midfield.

Dortmund's answer was a five-man defense (Marcel Schmelzer, Mats Hummels, Sven Bender, Sokratis, Lukasz Piszcek). When Bayern attacked, Hummels, Sokratis and Bender supported Schmelzer and Piszcek at the right and left. Dortmund's intention was to close down spaces for Bayern's fast attackers and to smother Bayern's dominate passing game right behind the middle line. A trio of Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were given the job of driving the fast counter attacks after winning the ball supported by the midfielders Julian Weigl and Gonzalo Castro and, when in ball possession by left and right back Schmelzer and Piszcek.

For long, the duel was a game of chess - more like a tactic festival and far from a thrilling cup battle. Both Dortmund and Bayern squeezed down the 105-meter-long pitch in the Berlin Olympic stadium into a 40 to 50-meter-narrow combat zone in midfield. Bayern did not manage to break through down the flanks and had to use "long balls" to get near Dortmund's box. Things slightly got better in the second half, but Guardiola's soul-mate coaching colleague Thomas Tuchel and his team challenged Bayern right until the last second. But in 2016, Dortmund duly lost their third consecutive German cup final.

For long there was no reason for Borussia Dortmund to start to panic as Bayern was far from a team acting with overwhelming self-confidence, more like a bunch of children trying to fulfill their father's last wish. It was tremendously hard work and in the end a victory of will and determination. According to reports from Bayern insiders, Guardiola was under immense pressure before his last game. Something his team must have felt. For long this cup evening Guardiola's case seemed to be a big weight on everybody's shoulders, but in the end it turned out to be a matter of the heart.

Emotions surfaced like a volcano eruption. In the first place the man most affected has said this summer is on his way to start his next adventure in the English Premier League with Manchester City. When his team received the German Cup trophy it was Guardiola who was allowed to lift the trophy as first, a job normally is done by the team captain. Endit