Why Guardiola refused to appear in Netflix's Mourinho documentary

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FT Desk

This week, a new documentary about the life and career of Jose Mourinho will be released on Netflix.

Streaming from 11 August, it follows the legendary manager across his career and looks at both his incredible success and the controversies that have made him one of football’s most divisive figures.

It covers Mourinho’s rise at Porto, including his famous Champions League victory in 2004, before moving through his hugely successful spells at Chelsea and Inter, his time at Real Madrid, Manchester United and his later career with Fenerbahce and Roma.

One of the most interesting parts is the collection of interviews with people who worked closely with him or competed against him. Former players and football figures including Sir Alex Ferguson, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Iker Casillas, Samuel Eto’o, Javier Zanetti, Luis Figo, Marcelo, Petr Cech and Eden Hazard feature in the documentary.

Conspicuous by his absence, however, is Mourinho's greatest-ever rival, Pep Guardiola.

The pair's shared history goes back long before Mourinho became a head coach and the rivalry reached its apex when the Portuguese was in charge of Real Madrid and Guardiola was in charge of Barcelona. In addition to the battle for supremacy on the pitch between the two Clasico sides, the vitriol between the two bosses became personal.

According to ESPN, Guardiola was asked to appear in the documentary and agreed to do so, but only if personally requested by Mourinho himself.

Mourinho did not extend that invite.

The Mourinho-Guardiola rivalry

Mourinho and Guardiola’s rivalry is one of the biggest in modern football, mainly because they are almost complete opposites in personality and philosophy. Guardiola’s Barcelona were all about possession, pressing and controlling games, while Mourinho focused more on organisation, counter-attacks and finding ways to stop the opposition.

It really exploded when Mourinho joined Real Madrid in 2010 and went up against Guardiola’s Barcelona, but it was already heating up prior to that, as Mourinho's Inter eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League the previous season. The Portuguese ran around the Camp Nou in celebration, fuelling rumours that he had been upset that the Catalan was chosen as the next Barca head coach over him in 2008.

The pair became acquainted while Mourinho acted as interpreter for Bobby Robson, who was head coach of the Blaugrana between 1996 and 1997.

Following his switch to Madrid in 2010, the first big Clasico ended 5-0 to Barcelona, which was a huge statement from Guardiola and his team. But Mourinho gradually made Real Madrid much more competitive, and the rivalry became incredibly intense, especially during the four Clasicos they played in just 18 days in 2011.

Things also got personal. Mourinho constantly criticised Barcelona and refereeing decisions, while Guardiola usually tried to stay calmer, although he eventually hit back at his counterpart publicly. The rivalry reached its ugliest point when Mourinho famously poked Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye during a Super Cup match.

Despite all the arguments, there was some respect underneath it. Mourinho eventually got the better of Barcelona, winning La Liga with 100 points in 2011/12. Guardiola left Barcelona soon afterwards, but their rivalry had already become part of football history, and they faced off again in subsequent years in the Premier League and Champions League.