In November 1968, The Beatles politely released a self-titled album that featured a white cover and their name on the right hand side. The ‘White Album’ had a scaled back sound that was a complete breakaway from their last record, the technicoloured and experimental Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
What the quartet created during their recording sessions in the summer of 1968 turned out to be a near magnum opus and one of the best albums ever released.
That same feeling of quiet innovation was clear on Wednesday night as Manchester City demolished Real Madrid 4-0 and booked their place in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.
Pep Guardiola, a coach that has been long criticised for over complicating his team selections and tactics, kept it simple as a first half brace from Bernardo Silva booked the Sky Blues’ plane tickets to Istanbul.
BERNARDO SILVA OPENS THE SCORING FOR MAN CITY! 💥 pic.twitter.com/rKwO5qF1gd
— Watch the UCL on LiveScore 🇮🇪 (@LiveScoreIE) May 17, 2023
The team are now inches away from the treble, something only done once in the entire history of English football.
This achievement belongs to a coach long associated with innovation and thinking outside the box on the biggest stages, like when Lionel Messi was deployed as a false nine for Barcelona against Real Madrid in 2009.
Sometimes that need to invent has been Guardiola’s downfall. He admitted this himself after Real Madrid beat his Bayern Munich team 4-0 in the second leg of their semi-final bout back in 2014.
"I got it wrong, man. I got it totally wrong. It's a monumental f*** up. A total mess. The biggest f*** up of my life as a coach," he said after the game.
Nine years later, he went back to basics and swapped the need to reinvent for what works.
Manchester City made no changes to the starting XI that drew 1-1 last week at the Santiago Bernabéu. They kept the same 4-2-3-1 formation that had Rodri and İlkay Gündoğan acting as holding midfielders, and Erling Haaland was the lone striker.
It’s what worked. The only thing that was somewhat inventive on the night was Gündoğan coming forward to play as a second striker inside a cluttered penalty area.
This allowed Manchester City to get numbers into the box and deal with Real Madrid’s low block.
It worked a treat as they dominated the game in almost every way. The Sky Blues had 79% possession in the opening 15 minutes and they turned this into meaningful chances.
Twice Thibaut Courtois was called into action and he made two excellent saves to keep Real in the tie.
HOW DID THAT STAY OUT?! 😱
Courtois saves from point-blank range to deny Haaland the opening goal of the night... pic.twitter.com/H57j9KGfUG— Watch the UCL on LiveScore 🇮🇪 (@LiveScoreIE) May 17, 2023
Their response was a meagre 13 passes in the first 15 minutes. Real can’t be faulted for this, they simply couldn’t get the ball off City.
To Guardiola, a manager that has long obsessed over the midfield and the need for his teams to dominate possession, this must have been more pleasing than keeping a clean sheet.
Even when his players fell back to deal with Real’s attempted comeback, they comfortably held Los Bloncos at arm’s length.
In the end, it was business as usual for a team that now turns their attention to winning their third consecutive Premier League title.
This was Guardiola’s White Album moment; a stripped back piece of beauty. Arguably his greatest work alongside Barcelona’s victory over Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final.
In years to come, those two games will be debated in the same way the White Album is compared to Abbey Road.
Sometimes you just have to enjoy the music and a genius at work.
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