Pep Guardiola's incredible success at Barcelona has been played down by the club's sporting director, Deco.
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- Deco plays down Guardiola achievements at Barca
- Coach sold midfielder when he arrived in 2008
- Portuguese admits the Catalan 'built best team'
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Guardiola presided over Barcelona's greatest-ever era, winning three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues among a total of 14 trophies in a golden four-year spell between 2008 and 2012. Former Barca player and current sporting director Deco, however, has played down the current Manchester City boss' achievements, pointing out that the foundations had already been laid for him to triumph.
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WHAT DECO SAID
"When he arrived at Barcelona people talked about a great revolution, which is a big lie," Deco told. "Ronaldinho and I left but there was Xavi, Andres Iiniesta, Sergio Busquets coming through, Yaya Toure, [Lionel] Messi of course, Samuel Eto'o. Guardiola was intelligent and when he arrived he imposed order and quality as a coach to build the best team I've seen in my life and he didn't waste any time."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Guardiola prioritised selling Deco and Ronaldinho when he arrived as he thought they could be disruptive influences on the team and especially Messi. Deco was sold to Chelsea and Ronaldinho to AC Milan, with Dani Alves arriving in the same summer. Deco became Barca's sporting director last year.
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WHAT NEXT FOR DECO & GUARDIOLA?
Deco will now have to hire a new Barcelona manager after Xavi announced he will step down at the end of the season. Guardiola is unlikely to want to return to Camp Nou after quitting in 2012 having felt drained by the political environment around the club. He is focusing on winning yet more silverware with City, who visit Brentford on Monday.
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