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Guardiola: Exhaustion led to Barcelona exit

Pep Guardola led Barcelona to 14 trophies in four seasons © Getty Images

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Pep Guardiola has revealed that he left Barcelona because he was "at the limit" of his exhaustion in a new book about the Bayern Munich coach, according to Spanish newspaper AS.

The book, Herr Pep, written with Guardiola's full authorisation by journalist Marti Perarnau, claims that his departure from the Nou Camp had nothing to do with a dispute with former club president Sandro Rosell.

AS reports that journalist Isaac Lluch, the German correspondent for Catalan daily Ara, has had a sneak preview of the book, which is due to be published in Catalan and Spanish in September.

It was written after Perarnau was authorised to spend 200 days a year with Guardiola, although the former Barcelona manager told him: "Write everything you see and criticise everything you want to in the book, but during the season don't write anything that you see behind closed doors."

Guardiola says: "It isn't true that I left because Rosell didn't support me in rebuilding the squad.

"I was at my limit of exhaustion and I wasn't sure at all about what options I could offer the team. I didn't ask to rebuild the squad, because I was the one who had decided to leave."

Speaking about a potential return at some point in the future, he says: "The way the club is organised, there are only two options: either you're the power or you aren't the power. And, against my wishes, I have been forced to pick sides."

AS reports that Guardiola describes Bayern's 4-0 home defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals as "my biggest cock-up as a coach."

It also quotes him as saying that "I hate tiki-taka," explaining instead that his belief is that "without a sequence of 15 previous passes, a good transition between defence and attack is impossible."

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