"Haha, Guardiola really managed to shoot himself in the foot."
After Atletico Madrid eliminated Bayern Munich on away goals with a 2–2 aggregate score and advanced smoothly to the Champions League Final, Yang Yang, who had just finished watching the live broadcast in Real Madrid's head coach's office in Valdebebas, Madrid, spotted an amusing piece of news pushed by AS and couldn't resist sharing it.
The incident had started with the first leg a week earlier. Bayern Munich had lost 0–1 away to Atletico Madrid, and at the post-match press conference, Guardiola had bitterly complained to the media, criticizing Atletico Madrid for playing unfairly. They had failed to maintain the turf at Calderon Stadium properly: the grass was too long and had been seriously under-watered, which had put Bayern Munich at a major disadvantage.
As everyone knew, overly long grass and insufficient watering slowed the ball down. That was indeed unfavorable for Bayern Munich, who excelled at possession football, but Atletico Madrid were certainly not the first team to do it.
Back then, Mourinho's Chelsea had even poured sand onto the pitch to restrain Guardiola's Barcelona.
Compared with that, simply not watering the grass was nothing special. Guardiola was merely looking for an excuse for the loss.
But how could those crafty media outlets let the matter rest?
Before the second leg, Spanish media had asked Guardiola about the turf. The Bayern Munich head coach had candidly stated that at Calderon Stadium, Atletico Madrid played on the kind of pitch they liked, while at Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich would also play on the kind of pitch they wanted.
No one was completely innocent. To advance, to gain even the slightest advantage, everyone would resort to every possible means.
In professional leagues, winning was the greatest justice!
What was truly amusing,