18 January 1971 - He Truly Does Have Barcelona DNA

On 18 January 1971, former Barcelona player and current manager Pep Guardiola was born in the Catelonian town of Santpedor.

Guardiola first joined Barcelona in 1983 as a 12-year old member of their famed La Masia youth academy. He signed a professional contract with the club in 1990 and, later that year, then-manager Johan Cruyff called him up to the first team. Playing a central role as a defensive midfielder, Guardiola proceeded to collect a number of honors, including six league titles between 1991 and 1999 and the 1992 European Cup.

In 2001, the 30-year old left Spain and spent time playing for Brescia (2001-02, 2003), Roma (2002-03), Al-Ahli (2003-05), and Dorados (2005-06). Upon his retirement in 2006, he took a year off, then returned to Barcelona in 2007 as manager of the club's B team. After only one season, the club promoted him to manager of the first team, replacing the departing Frank Rijkaard.

As manager, Guardiola emphasized the possession-based total football concept promoted by his own former manager, Cruyff. It paid immediate dividends, as Barcelona won the league in Guardiola's first season back, then proceeded to win the next two. Now in his fourth season in charge, he has won a record total of 13 trophies, including two Champions League titles and two Club World Cups. Most recently, he collected a personal highlight, winning the 2011 Ballon d'Or for Best Coach.

13 December 2008 - When The Paradigm Shifted In Spain

On 13 December 2008, Barcelona won their first Clásico in almost three years, beating Real Madrid 2-0.

It is difficult to picture at the moment, with Barça having just won their eighth match against their Madrid rivals in twelve tries across all competitions (the lone loss came in the 2011 Copa del Rey Final), but there was a time not too distant in which Real Madrid were the dominant team. Since suffering a 3-0 loss to Barcelona on 19 November 2005, the Merengues rattled off a five-match unbeaten streak that included three wins and two draws, all in the league.

The last match of that run was the worst for Barcelona as, on 5 May 2008, Real Madrid won 4-1 at the Bernabéu with goals from Raúl (12'), Arjen Robben (20'), Gonzalo Higuaín (62'), and Ruud van Nistelrooy (77') (Barcelona's lone goal was an 86th-minute consolation strike from Thierry Henry). It was the final nail in the coffin for Barça manager Frank Rijkaard, as the club announced shortly afterward that he would be replaced at the end of the season by youth team coach Pep Guardiola. Real Madrid, meanwhile, went on to claim their second consecutive La Liga title

Guardiola duly took over the following month and immediately began to reshape the team by offloading a number of players, including two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho. After an opening day loss to Numancia, Guardiola's Barcelona went unbeaten in their next thirteen league matches, with eleven wins and two draws. They were at the top of the table on 13 December when they hosted Real Madrid for Guardiola's first Clásico as manager. It was close until the last few minutes, when goals from Samuel Eto'o (83') and Lionel Messi (90') delivered a 2-0 victory.

Since then, Barcelona have extended their unbeaten streak against Madrid to seven league matches, with six wins and one draw. They've also gone undefeated against their rivals in the Champions League and the Supercopa de España, with a win and a draw in each of those competitions.



Photo credit to Albert Olive/EPA.

4 November 2001 - Pep Gets Off To A Positive Start In Italy

On 4 November 2001, Brescia lost away to Lazio, 5-0, in a Serie A league match. Adding insult to injury, Brescia's star Spanish midfielder Josep "Pep" Guardiola tested positive after the match for the steriod nandrolone and received a four-month ban.

Guardiola, who had moved to Brescia from Barcelona the previous month, had also tested positive for nandrolone after a match against Piacenza on 21 October. On both occasions, he denied having intentionally taken any prohibited substances, suggesting that nutritional supplements may have led to the test results. The ban remained in place, however, and started on 22 November for all club and international matches.

On 29 September 2009, almost eight years from the dates of the positive tests, Guardiola was finally cleared of all charges.

He currently manages his former club, Barcelona. In his first season in charge, he led them to the La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles.