AGADIR, Morocco // Although he has won the Uefa Champions League twice, the Spanish title three times and managed a treble including the Spanish Cup in his first season as a Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola will not be the senior figure in the dugout as his European champions Bayern Munich prepare to face China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup on Tuesday.
Opposite him will be the Italian 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, who reappeared in China last year after a two-year hiatus following his second, and unsuccessful, spell in charge of his national team.
For all Guardiola has won, his CV does not yet match that of Lippi, who led Juventus to the 1996 Champions League crown and five Serie A titles, before doing the league and cup double with Guangzhou in his first season, with a league and Asian Champions League double in 2013.
Lippi has been impressed with the younger coach’s career, so far.
“Guardiola is an intelligent and capable person.
“We’ve seen what he’s done with Barcelona and Bayern, he’s changed teams but kept on winning,” said Lippi, 65.
“He’s brought with him his philosophy of play, slowly but with sureness.”
Lippi knows his team, the first Chinese participants in the competition, have little chance of upsetting Bayern, even suggesting they only have a one per cent possibility.
“We’re going to play against one of the best teams in the world,” he said.
“When you play a match against a team like this, out of 100 matches you lose 99 but you can win one and I hope that will be the next one. You never know.”
Guardiola makes no assumptions his side will have an easy time of it.
“This tournament is very important, very prestigious. It’s not easy to qualify for it, nor to win it,” he said. “There are only two matches, the semi-final and the final and, simply put, we have to win them.
“You don’t have the good fortune to take part in this competition very often in your life as a professional footballer and I’d like to express my gratitude to the team and [predecessor] Juup Heynckes because thanks to them I am here today.”
If Bayern win the tournament it would be their fifth trophy of the year, having won the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup back in May and then added the European Super Cup in August.
However, they lost to Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup, so they will not be able to match the unprecedented six-trophy achievements of Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2009.
Even so, Bayern’s French winger Franck Ribery, who is on the three-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, alongside the holders of the trophy the past five years in Lionel Messi (2009-2012) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2008), wants to finish the calendar year on a positive note.
“It’s been a good year for everyone at Bayern.
“Now we’ve got two matches left before going on holiday,” said Ribery, referring to the German League winter break. “We’re here to play well, be serious and win the trophy.”
The winners will face Atletico Mineiro of Brazil or hosts Raja Casablanca in Saturday’s final.
The second semi-final takes place tomorrow, with Raja’s Ivory Coast quarter-final match-winner Kouko Guehi particularly looking forward to facing the former Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho.
“Ever since I was a child my dream was to see Ronaldinho in the flesh and to play against him,” he said. “It’s huge!”
Raja Casablanca, Morocco
Route to the tournament Unlike other semi-finalists, they are not continental champions but qualified for the tournament as champions of the host nation Morocco, winning the title in the 2012/13 season.
The team Most of the squad are Moroccan League players with a sprinkling of international caps between them and, in a few cases, experience abroad in countries such as Switzerland or Saudi Arabia.
There some low-key imports including midfielder Kouko Guehi from Ivory Coast. None of the players are well-known outside Morocco.
Atletico Mineiro, Brazil
Route to the tournament Finished second in Brazil to qualify for the Copa Libertadores. They won the Libertadores the hard way, surviving a penalty miss against Tijuana and beating Newell’s Old Boys and Paraguayan side Olimpia on penalties.
The team An ageing side of respected if unremarkable players, most of whom have done the rounds of clubs in Brazil and, in some cases, have had the odd spell abroad.
The exceptions are the mercurial former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho and the former CSKA Moscow, Everton and Manchester City striker Jo.
Bayern Munich, Germany
Route to the tournament Won the Uefa Champions League in May, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the final. They had qualified for the Champions League by finishing second in the Bundesliga in ‘11/12.
The team Just about every player in the side is a full international. They include some of the world’s top players such as the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defender Philipp Lahm, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and forwards Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.
Six of their players were on the original 23-man list for the Player of the Year award.
Guangzhou Evergrande, China
Route to the tournament Won the Asian Champions League (ACL) after a campaign that took them to Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia and Qatar. Qualified for the ACL as the 2012 Chinese champions.
The team Guangzhou provides the backbone of the China national side with three South American players thrown in.
Asian Player of the Year and China captain Zheng Zhi and Gao Lin are the pick of the homegrown players. However, the real stars are the South American trio of the Argentine playmaker Dario Conca and the Brazilian pair of Elkeson and Muriqui.
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