‘Essential players wanted to act more urgently’: Pep Guardiola was OVERRULED on tactics by Bayern Munich’s stars before the 4-0 thrashing by Real Madrid in 2014, claims old assistant Domenec Torrent
- Domenec Torrent says players disregarded Pep Guardiola’s tactics in 2014
- They chose to ‘act more urgently’ than Guardiola’s more patient approach
- Torrent believes their downfall was due to errors in defensive behaviour
- But highlighted the importance of former Bayern Munich skipper Philipp Lahm
Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Bayern Munich, Domenec Torrent, has claimed that the players ignored their boss’s tactics in their 4-0 Champions League loss to Real Madrid in 2014.
The two teams went head to head in the Champions League semi-final six years ago, with Madrid winning the first leg at Santiago Bernabeu 1-0 and the second at Allianz Arena 4-0.
The Bavarians were taught a lesson in counter-attacking by a slick Real Madrid outfit who capitalised on defensive errors and went through with surprising ease.
Bayern Munich lost 4-0 to Real Madrid to crash out of the Champions League semi-final
Domenec Torrent, Pep Guardiola’s assistant, claimed that the players ignored his tactics
Two goals apiece from Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo condemned Bayern to a humiliating defeat.
Torrent described Guardiola’s tactical approach as patient, while stating that the players chose to disregard their boss’s intentions and play more aggressively.
‘Pep’s idea would have been a more wait-and-see tactic, but essential players wanted to act more urgently, more stormily,’ Torrent told Kicker.
‘There were errors in defensive behaviour when conceding goals, but there are such errors.
‘Maybe with Pep’s idea of more control we still would have lost 0-4, maybe even 0-5.’
Guardiola has since reflected on Bayern’s humiliating 4-0 home defeat by saying: ‘I got it wrong, man. I got it totally wrong. It’s a monumental f***-up. A total mess. The biggest f***-up of my life as a coach.’
Torrent did, however, praise former Bayern Munich skipper Philipp Lahm, comparing his importance to Guardiola as that of Xavi during his time in charge of Barcelona.
‘Lahm was another Xavi for Pep at Bayern. Lahm could have played with us in Barca’s big phase thanks to his game intelligence,’ said Torrent.
Torrent did, however, praise former Bayern Munich skipper Philipp Lahm for his performance
Torrent compared Lahm’s importance to Guardiola as that of Xavi during his time at Barcelona
