Pep Guardiola didn’t leave a deep mark on Italian football — he spent only two years of his playing career there. However, during his short stint in Serie A, he formed friendships that he still maintains today, friendships for a lifetime.This October, during an international break, he had the chance to return to Italy. He appeared as a guest on the TV show Che tempo che fa, where host Fabio Fazio surprised him by bringing Roberto Baggio, Guardiola’s former teammate from Brescia, into the conversation via video call. Both of them were nearing the end of their careers back then — Baggio retired there, and two years later, so did Guardiola.Although they shared the locker room for only a year and a half, they developed a friendly relationship full of respect, evident in the way the Spanish coach spoke about the legendary Italian forward during the show.”If I start crying, I apologize, but I get emotional when I talk about Baggio. I met him when his career was winding down, and his knee was full of scars. He could barely move, but he was still the best. I can only imagine how he was during his peak years,” Guardiola recalled, looking back nearly two and a half decades.##NAJAVA_MECA_8419244##Even then, despite being significantly limited by injuries, Baggio could do things others couldn’t.”Yes, but you just accept it because he was different. I understand that even more now as a coach — you can’t treat everyone the same way. I thought Baggio was a very serious person, but he was truly the heart and soul of the locker room. He deserved admiration worldwide not only for his playing talent but for everything else. There’s no one in Italy who doesn’t love Baggio; it’s impossible.”Moving to Brescia after years at Barcelona was a step into unknown territory for the Spanish midfielder.”I was used to winning trophies, but at Brescia, I celebrated every time we won a match. I have no regrets at all. I got to experience a situation that was unfamiliar to me, and it turned out to be one of the best periods of my life.””Sono felicissimo dei tuoi trionfi ed è tutto meritato” Roberto Baggio e Pep Guardiola a #CTCF pic.twitter.com/Mlx74Bg6Lq— Che Tempo Che Fa (@chetempochefa) October 13, 2024 Guardiola was also deeply impressed by Brescia’s coach at the time, Carlo Mazzone.”The first time I saw him, I was in the stands when he ran towards the Atalanta fans after a draw. He was an old-school coach, instinctive. That’s life—if I hadn’t gone to Brescia, I wouldn’t have met Mazzone. The places are beautiful, but in the end, it’s the people you remember,” Guardiola concluded.During his brief time at Brescia, Guardiola met many people, including Luca Toni. Shortly after the TV show aired, the three met at an Italian restaurant to reminisce about their time sharing the locker room. It was a friendly dinner with a few glasses of wine to set the mood, and Toni shared a snippet of their conversation on social media, jokingly “accusing” Pep of making it difficult for him to find a club because of his innovations in football once he became a coach.For context, Toni and Guardiola were at different stages of their playing careers when they crossed paths at Brescia. For Toni, Brescia was just a stopover on his way to bigger clubs, while Guardiola had brief stints in Qatar’s Al Ahli and Mexico’s Dorados after leaving the Italian club before hanging up his boots.Luca Toni telling Pep Guardiola that he ruined football with the false-nine system: “I couldn’t find a team for four years because of you!” 😭😂 @IFTVofficial pic.twitter.com/rFaEZNhGeD— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) October 16, 2024 Then, Guardiola spent a year refining his coaching skills at Barcelona B before taking over the first team and conquering the world, significantly changing the game of football. Some of his changes affected Toni’s career as well, who frequently switched clubs during that time. Roma, Genoa, Juventus, Al Nasr, and Fiorentina — Toni moved through five teams over three and a half years before finding his stride in Verona — as he humorously said, partly because of Guardiola.”Pep, you ruined football. Because of your false nines, I couldn’t find a team for four years! Seriously,” Toni joked with Guardiola. “Can you say that you only used the false nine with Messi? Do you even like classic strikers?” he asked.Guardiola easily defended himself, pointing out that he currently has Erling Haaland at Manchester City as a representative of classic strikers.”I have him, Haaland, 60 goals. We won the treble with a center forward, but the center forward has to be good! You understand?” Guardiola replied.”Okay, but enough with the false nines already. Great strikers are better,” Toni concluded.And that’s just a small part of the hours-long conversation that Toni shared. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luca Toni (@luca_toni.9)
