At noon the day after the match against Zenit St. Petersburg, the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. It was hosted by UEFA Secretary General Gianni Infantino and attended by Breitner, ambassador for the final venue, the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
The draw followed the usual rules. All eight teams were randomly drawn.
At the same time, the bracket for the semi-finals was also determined.
Before the draw, Guardiola had already told the media, following Barcelona's second-leg win in the Round of 16, that he wasn't too concerned about who they would draw in the quarter-finals.
If he had a preference, though, he said he hoped to avoid facing Manchester City so soon.
"Gao Shen is one of the greatest head coaches in football history. We're very good friends. They're top of the Premier League and just won a domestic cup. Over the past year, his team has won multiple titles. Right now, they're the best team in European football.
"Yes, we're one of the best too.
"So I don't think it's a good idea for the two best teams to meet this early."
Catalan media revealed one of the reasons Guardiola wanted to avoid Manchester City was that their left-back, Abidal, had suffered a relapse of liver cancer.
After undergoing surgery last year, Abidal had made a miraculous comeback that won widespread admiration. But just a few days ago, he was diagnosed with a recurrence and required a liver transplant. This severely disrupted Guardiola's rotation plans.
With Abidal unavailable, Barcelona were left with only Peruvian full-back Juan Vargas to cover the left side.
Despite his personal feelings, fate had other plans.
Out of the seven possible opponents, Manchester City were drawn against Barcelona.
The other quarter-final tie in the same half of the bracket was Manchester United versus Benfica.
When the draw results were revealed, Barcelona's technical director Zubizarreta was interviewed on site.
He described the clash between Barcelona and Manchester City as "a collision between Mars and Earth."
"The draw won't change anything. We can only accept it calmly."
"Guardiola did say he didn't want to face Manchester City, but in the end, we drew them. I think that's just fate. No opponent in the quarter-finals is going to be easy."
"Of course, we hope to reach the Champions League final again. We've been in the last three consecutive finals."
"But to do that, we need to get past this round first."
According to the draw, Barcelona would host the first leg at Camp Nou, then travel to Manchester for the second leg. Zubizarreta believed this would give them an edge.
"To be honest, we have a certain psychological advantage at Camp Nou."
"I know, I know, many people will point out that we've faced Gao Shen's teams in two of the last three Champions League finals and lost both times, winning only once."
"But this time is different. This is a knockout tie, not a one-off final."
"We'll get the upper hand at home."
"We're confident. We never fear any opponent at Camp Nou, and this time will be no different."
Manchester City CEO Gary Cook also attended the draw. In an interview, he admitted that drawing Barcelona wasn't ideal, but still manageable for City.
"Barcelona are clearly the strongest side we could've drawn, but for us, it doesn't matter who we play."
Cook revealed that before leaving for Switzerland, he called head coach Gao Shen to ask his thoughts on the draw.
"He just replied with three words: 'All the same.'"
They could talk tough in front of the cameras, but once the draw was confirmed, Gao Shen and his coaching staff took things very seriously.
The coaching team immediately pulled together footage of Barcelona's recent matches, especially the second leg against Leverkusen in the Round of 16. In that match, played without Abidal, Barcelona thrashed Leverkusen 7-1 at Camp Nou.
Abidal was absent, with Vargas filling in.
Messi was in sensational form in that match, scoring five goals. But his positioning on the pitch was somewhat unusual.
That was mainly because Guardiola had started Fabregas.
Barcelona's front three in that match were Agüero, Messi, and Fabregas.
But their roles were interesting. All three concentrated on central and inside channels, leaving the flanks open.
Of course, Agüero and Messi, with their individual abilities, could move wide at any moment and cause problems on the wings.
But most of the time, they focused their movement in the middle and half-spaces, forming quick combinations in tight areas.
"There were eight goals in that match," said chief analyst Carlos Vargas with a wry smile, spreading his hands, "but actually not that many shots. Barcelona had 18, and Leverkusen just one."
The gap in quality between the two teams was massive.
Barcelona had nearly 80% possession, while Leverkusen had just over 20%.
In terms of passes, Barcelona made nearly four times as many as Leverkusen. The pass success rate was 90% for Barcelona and 70% for Leverkusen.
In all offensive and build-up stats, Leverkusen were thoroughly outclassed.
"Look at the shooting map and passing networks," said assistant coach Carlo.
Carlos Vargas immediately brought up the relevant data, showing Barcelona's 18 shot locations and a web of over a thousand passes. The visuals resembled a dense spiderweb.
Against Leverkusen, Barcelona didn't even need to field all their starters. They had already won 3-1 away in the first leg.
Still, Guardiola fielded a strong lineup, particularly in midfield and defense, with Messi and Agüero leading the attack.
It was clear he was trying to build tactics around Fabregas.
As a result, Alexis Sánchez was dropped.
Whether it was Sánchez, Agüero, and Messi before, or Agüero, Messi, and Fabregas now, Barcelona's tactical style remained the same—they rarely delivered low crosses from the byline.
There was logic behind it.
Threatening crosses require breaking through the opponent's defensive line and playing the ball accurately in front of goal. That's not easy.
In most cases, crossing from the byline is inefficient.
Especially for a team like Barcelona that lacks a traditional center-forward.
So they preferred quick passing and combination play in tight areas.
While the passing patterns looked chaotic, there was method in the madness.
If you isolated the most threatening passes, you'd find they were concentrated in the central zones and half-spaces, with very few going wide.
Even when full-backs Vargas and Dani Alves pushed forward, they rarely went all the way to the touchline.
The areas near the corner flag and outside the box were strangely empty.
Carlo and the rest of the staff analyzed Barcelona's tactics in detail, including strengths and weaknesses, based on their matches against Leverkusen and others.
Gao Shen sat through it all, silently spinning a pen between his fingers.
Interestingly, the pen never fell, no matter how he spun it.
They said he'd developed that skill over the last twenty years.
"Gao, what do you think?" Carlo asked when he felt it was time.
Everyone turned to look at him.
They were used to this quiet but intense meeting style.
He looked like he was just spinning a pen, but in truth, he was analyzing, processing, and listening closely.
"The match against Leverkusen was another of Guardiola's tricks, probably meant for us."
As he said this, Gao Shen chuckled.
He wasn't bragging. He genuinely believed that's what Guardiola had in mind.
"I don't know if you noticed, but in another game, he used three defenders."
Everyone immediately looked at Carlos Vargas, who nodded, "Yes, in one league match. Puyol, Thiago Motta, and Piqué formed a back three. Juan Vargas didn't play. Sánchez and Dani Alves played as wing-backs. It looked like a 3-4-2-1."
Agüero didn't start up front. Instead, Fabregas and Iniesta were the second line behind the striker.
In short, Guardiola had been experimenting with ways to integrate Fabregas into Barcelona's system—whether by playing 3-4-3, 4-3-3, or using Fabregas as a false nine.
There was logic behind it.
It wasn't even a secret anymore. The mobility of Barcelona's midfield was declining.
Xavi was already 32 and couldn't cover the same ground or press as aggressively as before.
Iniesta and Messi had similar issues.
Everyone knew that as Barcelona's midfield lost mobility, their control over games would decline.
So, what was the solution?
The simplest one was to add another player.
What used to be done by three could now be handled by four—by adding Fabregas.
This was especially useful in high-stakes matches.
In the Leverkusen match, Barcelona had nearly 80% possession, and Leverkusen managed just one shot.
Can you imagine that?
Actually, Leverkusen did try more than once. They attempted five long-range efforts, but none were recorded as shots because they were blocked before leaving the edge of the area.
An overwhelming advantage, in the Champions League Round of 16 no less.
"I'm thinking now, Guardiola might not even use a back four. He could go with a back three," said Gao Shen.
Everyone looked around in surprise.
Carlo forced a smile and shook his head. "Do the two of you really have to torture us like this?"
The others also smiled bitterly.
A tactical showdown between Gao Shen and Guardiola was always full of intrigue.
But to put it another way, this came down to Guardiola's own lack of confidence.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. I don't overthink things like he does. I know exactly how to beat Barcelona!"
Gao Shen's tone was calm, confident, and resolute.
(To be continued.)