FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.11.2009 11:54

Guardiola 5 - Caparrós 0

Edgar Fornós

Although Joaquín Caparrós' teams are never easy to beat, Pep Guardiola has got the better of the Bilbao manager in the five meetings between the two since he took over at the Nou Camp.

Josep Guardiola and Joaquín Caparrós have faced each other five times as managers of FC Barcelona and Athletic Club de Bilbao – twice in the league and in the Spanish Super Cup and once in the Spanish Cup Final in Mestalla last season – and Guardiola has always come out on top.

Not quite that easy

The stats certainly look good, but the story behind them shows that things were not quite that easy. The first game last season was in the seventh week of the league season and Barca had to work very hard to take the points from the San Mames- A single Samuel Eto'o strike was enough for the win. In the Super Cup first leg in Bilbao in August, Barca also didn't have it all their own way and had to come back from a goal down by the youngster Óscar de Marcos to take a lead back to the Nou Camp for the return game.

Mestalla final

Although the 4-1 final result was a fair representation of Barca's overall superiority, last year's cup final was certainly no cake walk and again Bilbao were first to score and had Guardiola's team on the back foot for the first 20 minutes or so.

More convincing at the Nou Camp

The two wins at the Nou Camp were more convincing affairs: Sergio Busquets and Leo Messi giving Barca a 2-0 win in the league and two more from the Argentinean and another from Bojan sealing the club's eighth Spanish Super Cup title.