Pep Guardiola has become one of the great football coaches of his generation, leading Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City to countless titles and changing the way the game is played with his tactical innovations.
But before he became one of the great stars of modern football management, Guardiola spent the 2007-08 campaign cutting his teeth in Spain’s fourth tier with Barcelona B.
Unsurprisingly, it was a success. After a tough start, Barcelona’s young side – featuring players who went on to achieve great things with Guardiola later – won their group in the Tercera Division, before moving onto the play-offs, through which they earned promotion to the Segunda Division B.
After easing through their semi-final, Guardiola’s side faced UD Barbastro in their group final and came out comfortably on top over two legs, winning the first 2-0 and the second game 1-0.
That second game was Guardiola’s last in charge at that level – come the summer, he was given the reigns of the first team. We’ve looked at where the players involved in the 1-0 win over Barbastro are now.
GK: Oier Olazabal
By the time that Marca B faced Barbastro On 15 June 2008, Oier had already done enough to be handed a senior first-team debut, featuring in a 2-2 Copa del Rey draw with Alcoyano. The following season, with Guardiola as the first-team coach, he made another senior start – but it was his last.
Oier stayed at Barcelona as third or fourth choice for the first team and a regular in the B team until 2014. But with opportunities limited, he moved on, spending time as the back-up option at Granada and Real Sociedad.
Two seasons at Levante brought more opportunities but after falling out of favour again, he moved back to Barcelona with Espanyol in 2019.
RB: David Corcoles
Right-back Corcoles was a relatively experienced 22-year-old by the start of the 2007-08 season, having spent time at Herucles and four seasons with Valencia’s B team. And for Barca, he was more a B team squad player than a long-term prospect.
He never got a chance with the first team and after one more season with Barcelona B, he left to start off a career that has seen spells at lower-league sides Recreativo, Albacete, Racing Santander and Vilamarxant, where he retired at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
CB: Chico Flores
Chico’s spell at Barca was short and sweet. He came in on loan in early 2008, helped Guardiola’s side to promotion and then headed back to parent club Cadiz.
He then…
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