As sure as hell, he must be thinking of his decision. Of how he should have delayed it. He must be in a cafe in West Village nervously ingesting espressos. Or in a queue outside Magnolias trying to score some red velvet cupcakes to feel better. But then if Bayern go on to win the Champions League final, then this temporary arrangement might prove futile and he might need a more serious fix.
Because everything in football, and probably in life is relative. So if the new German champions take an unprecedented treble then the irrepressible question would be what is there really for Senor Pep to fix. Remember, the work of staying on as Champions is in foresight more difficult than becoming one, owing to the human disposition to complacency and the added motivation of the opponents to do better. But then again, wouldn’t it be Herr Heynckes that would have so astutely started the fire.
We all know how Bill Shankly is the most revered at Anfield even though Bob Paisley after him had won more. Would opinions pitted against recent past affect the view of Pep’s eventual contribution? Like when Rafa suffered the fate of taking the Champions League winning team of Inter, which in a matter of months had lost all its teeth that it had grit a few months earlier in that battle-groundish European Cup triumph.
So how will Pep stamp his authority? Barcelona was stopped in the only way it could be stopped by this Bayern team. Does the world need another Barcelona or another winner? Pep will be doing a lot of thinking when he goes to bed. There might be no more sky to climb.
