Pep gets perfect send-off

Barcelona gave coach Pep Guardiola the perfect send-off late Friday, beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in Madrid to win the Spanish Cup in the coach’s last match in charge after a memorable four seasons in the Catalan hot-seat.

Lionel Messi, with his 73rd goal of the season, and a Pedro Rodriguez double finished off Athletic Bilbao inside the first half an hour and delivered Pep Guardiola his 14th and final trophy at Barcelona.

Guardiola leaves the side he once played for with three Spanish leagues, two Champions Leagues, two FIFA World Club Cups, two UEFA Supercups, three Spanish Supercups and two Spanish Cup victories as coach.

Friday’s win was a repeat of Guardiola’s first title in the 2008-09 final when the Catalans ran out 4-1 victors over Bilbao.

Guardiola has never lost to Bilbao in his four seasons, winning ten out of 15 clashes between the two sides who boast the most Spanish Cup victories, Barca making it 26 with this win to Bilbao’s 23 titles.

Afterwards the 41-year-old from the small town of Santpedor, 70 kilometres outside the Catalan capital, was happy with the win and spoke of the role Messi has played during his time at the club.

“Fourteen titles in four years is a very high standard so I am very happy to leave the club in a good position, and tonight we played great for the first 35 minutes, we’ve had a good year with four titles so I leave very satisfied,” he said.

“From Messi I have learned to be even more competitive than I ever was, without him we would not have won the number of titles we have and I’m very privileged to have coached who for me is the best player I have ever seen.”

Marcelo Bielsa, the Argentinian veteran in charge of Athletic Bilbao was philosophical in defeat.

“I put out a team I thought could beat Barcelona and win this trophy, but we were not able to live up to the expectations of our fans,” he said.

Guardiola has said he will now take a season break from the game before deciding where his future lies.

On Friday, he continued to wring every ounce of effort out of his side from the sidelines in the final moments of a glittering reign to assure another title for his Barcelona side.