Chelsea ace Pedro is ready for emotional reunion with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after outstanding four years at Barcelona
Spanish winger will come up against his former Nou Camp manager when table topping Blues visit Etihad on Saturday
PEDRO’S finest moment in football came under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
Now the two of them face off as Pedro’s league-leaders Chelsea take on Pep’s Manchester City.
They do so hours before Barcelona host Real Madrid in El Clasico — a match that means so much to both.
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The pair wrote history together at the Nou Camp. And a big chapter in that history was the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley.
Pedro slotted his famous opener against Manchester United in Barca’s 3-1 — hailed as their finest Pep-formance.
And Pedro’s goal saw his name etched in Catalan folklore forever.
Both he and Pep graduated from Barca’s world-famous La Masia academy.
Pep went on to glory as a player and boss.
Pedro joined the Catalan giants as a 16-year-old from his native Tenerife and went on to win an astonishing 20 trophies with Barca — 14 of them under Guardiola.
His 99 goals in 321 appearances in all competitions have made him a Barcelona legend before he left for Chelsea in search of regular first-team football.
Pedro, who cost the Blues £21.25million, had shown an astonishing resilience.
Over the years he had to compete for a place in the front-three with Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa, Alexis Sanchez and Luis Suarez.
At the time, Pedro said: “They’re all great players and I’ve learnt a great deal from them.”
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He always managed to hold down a first-team place, score significant goals and was the perfect foil for Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Though he made his La Liga debut as a sub under Frank Rijkaard in 2008, it was Pep who made him a first-team regular.
In the eyes of local fans he was the Masia underdog fighting for a place against the biggest names in the game coming in for huge sums. And invariably he shone.
Speculation about his future started as soon as Suarez arrived from Liverpool in a £75m move in 2014.
There seemed little chance of breaking into the front-three with Messi, Neymar and Suarez ahead of him.
Pedro had just had an excellent season with 19 goals in 54 games even though Barca won nothing under Tata Martino in the 2013-14 season.
And he stayed on for two more seasons.
At the start of Luis Enrique’s first season at Barca he even said he would play out of position to get into the team.
He said: “If Luis wants me at full-back I’ll try to adapt. My idea is to stay here for many more years.”
He went on to win another treble, his second at Barca, under Enrique. But 16 months ago Pedro finally had enough.
Pep, then Bayern Munich chief, said at the time: “There is no doubting the quality of Pedro. He’s a European champion with the national team, Liga champion with his team, champion of everything, He deserves the best.”
After a summer-long saga with Manchester United favourites to get him, he ended up at Chelsea against all expectations, moving to London with his wife Carolina Martin and young son Bryan.
Back then, Pedro said: “The easy thing would have been to stay, win everything and pose in the picture. I am taking a risk but I am ambitious.”
Barca were desperate to keep him but agreed to his request to join Chelsea as a mark of respect for what he did for the club.
Pedro, 29, struggled to hold down a first-team place in his first season at Chelsea but has won over boss Antonio Conte.
Tomorrow afternoon Pep will face one of his finest students. Pedro warned last summer that Guardiola would struggle in England.
He said: “Pep’s a great coach but he won’t have it easy. It’s a difficult league. I don’t think he will be able to express his football.”
Arguably, Pedro’s words now ring true given Guardiola’s highs and lows so far.
And, tomorrow, rest assured the disciple will be trying to put one over on his master.