Cesar Luis Menotti, who recently had an extended meeting with Pep Guardiola, believes he has changed soccer.

"Pep is the Che Guevara of football. I always said a revolutionary wins or dies in the fight and Pep's idea remains unwavering," said Menotti.

"He's never going to change it: he wants to play well, he wants to own the space and he wants command of the ball. And he wants to handle the time, to stay ahead of the curve."

The writer and film director David Trueba, who knows him better than many, says of his friend: "Nobody has paid any attention to the fundamental fact that Guardiola is a bricklayer's son.

"For Pep, his father is an example of integrity and hard work. The family he has grown up with in Santpedor has instilled old values in him, values from a time in which parents didn't have money or property to hand down to their children.

"When it comes to analysing or judging Guardiola, you must bear in mind that underneath the elegant suit, the cashmere jumper and the tie, is the son of a bricklayer. Inside those expensive Italian shoes there is a heart in espadrilles."