Barcelona coach guardiola has decided to quit his coaching.Guardiola's decision to step aside to rest and recuperate brings to an end a four-year tenure during which he led the Catalans to 13 trophies, including two Champions League triumphs and three straight Spanish La Liga titles.

The announcement on Friday at an emotional news conference at the Nou Camp, with Guardiola flanked by president Sandro Rosell and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, came after months of speculation over the 41-year-old's future.

It was also three days after his team were denied a place in the Champions League final by Chelsea in a spectacular match and followed last weekend's 2-1 La Liga defeat at home to rivals Real Madrid that all-but ended their hopes of a fourth title in a row.

It is very bad news for Barcelona.

"Four years wear you down and that's the fundamental reason," the former midfielder added.

"The person who will occupy my place will give something that I cannot, because being here for four years is hard, the demands are very high and you have to be very strong.

"When I started out I thought I could achieve everything and that's what I want to get back."

INSIDE KNOWLEDGE

Rosell and Zubizarreta said they had promoted Vilanova, who had an undistinguished career as a player but has been a crucial part of Guardiola's coaching success, because he was well placed to protect his close friend's legacy.

The pair were contemporaries at Barca's famed 'La Masia' youth academy and Vilanova was also Guardiola's assistant in his first coaching role in charge of the club's B team.

He was famously poked in the eye by Real coach Jose Mourinho during a mass brawl earlier this season and had surgery to remove a tumour on his saliva glands in November which sidelined him for several weeks.

"Personality, integrity, commitment to the club and inside knowledge," Zubizarreta said when quizzed about why Vilanova was a good candidate.

"We have always said that when we need a player we look to the reserve teams but when we need a coach we look within too, to Tito," added the former Barca and Spain goalkeeper.

Guardiola, who said he would be available for consultation if ever needed, had previously renewed his Barca contract on an annual basis and waited until February 8 last year before agreeing a new deal.

He went on to capture a third consecutive La Liga title and a second Champions League crown, as well as the Spanish and European Super Cups and the Club World Cup thanks to a passing style of unmatched fluidity and control.

Known as a superb motivator, he has managed to get the very best out of hugely-gifted players like Argentina forward Lionel Messi, winner of the last three World Player of the Year awards.

"I want to thank Pep with all my heart for the huge amount he has contributed to my career, both professionally and personally," Messi said in a statement on his Facebook page.

The 24-year-old added that he had preferred not to attend Guardiola's farewell news conference as he was feeling too emotional.

Guardiola hinted he would be taking a break from the game but a host of suitors will be queuing up to persuade him to return.

Inter Milan, Manchester City and Chelsea are among the clubs to have been linked with the sharp-suited Catalan while national team jobs with England and Qatar have been mentioned in other media reports.

Barca have the chance to say goodbye to their coach by winning more silverware as they play Athletic Bilbao in next month's King's Cup final.

Messi vs Ronaldo hot match
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldi vs messi hot match today .As well as a potential title decider, today’s ‘Clasico’ between bitter rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona serves up the latest instalment in the goal-scoring drama featuring record-setting marksmen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Leaders Real have a four-point advantage over champions Barca with five games left ahead of the clash at the Nou Camp and Ronaldo and Messi have already netted a Spanish record 41 times each in La Liga this season.
Portuguese Ronaldo, who set the previous best of 40 last term, has 53 goals in all competitions, while Argentine Messi, the man who replaced him as World Player of the Year and has won the award the past three years, has 63, including 14 in the Champions League.
He is only four short of the all-time record of 67 set by former Bayern Munich striker Gerd Mueller in the 1972-73 season.It would be the best news for all soccer lover.
The latest domestic showdown between the world’s two richest clubs has an added significance in that Real and Barca could meet in next month’s Champions League final as Real seek a 10th European crown and holders Barca chase a third triumph in four years and their fifth overall.
Both sides trail after their semi-final first legs, Real losing 2-1 at Bayern Munich and Barca falling 1-0 to Chelsea in London.
Spanish league champions the past three years, Barca have already beaten Real over two legs in both the Spanish Super Cup and the King’s Cup this term and they came from a goal down to win 3-1 at the Bernabeu in La Liga in December.
Should they finish level on points, the title will be decided by head-to-head record not goal difference.
Their matches rarely pass without controversy, from accusations of refereeing bias to red cards to outright brawling. Jose Mourinho famously poked Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye during a melee earlier this season.
With the combative Portuguese at the helm, hopes were high in Madrid that Real would be able to end Barca’s domination, although he has yet to find the magic touch that brought him so much success in Portugal, England and Italy.
‘It’s going to be another enormously demanding game,’ Emilio Butragueno, a former Real and Spain striker now a club director, said after Tuesday’s defeat at Bayern Munich.
‘The result could affect how the remaining four league games go,’ he added.
‘Barcelona will present the greatest possible challenge and I hope we can find inspiration.’
Ronaldo versus Messi is just one of a host of match-ups in a historic rivalry that is played out on many levels.
Barca see themselves as the representatives of fiercely independent Catalonia, standing up to the hated central government of Madrid embodied in Real.
Battle is also joined in the Spanish sports press, with Madrid-based Marca and AS and Barcelona’s Sport and El Mundo Deportivo constantly sniping and antagonising.
In addition, the game pits Real coach Mourinho against the club where he was an assistant coach in the 1990s when current Barca boss Pep Guardiola was a player.
Mourinho, who has repeatedly suggested that Barca are given favourable treatment by referees, has only managed to get the better of Guardiola once in 10 games since joining Real from Inter Milan in 2010, a dramatic 1-0 extra-time success in last year’s King’s Cup final.
Barca knocked Real out of the Champions League in the semi-finals last season, when they also inflicted a 5-0 La Liga drubbing on Mourinho in his first trip to the Nou Camp as Real coach in November 2010.
‘He (Guardiola) is an intelligent lad and he knows exactly how he has managed to win so many games,’ Mourinho said pointedly at a news conference after the Bayern game.
‘He knows perfectly well how he has done it,’ added the Portuguese, who was fined by UEFA last season for accusing European soccer’s governing body of helping Barca.
If either side wins today’s ‘Clasico’ they will have 87 victories in 219 official meetings since they first locked horns in the Spanish Cup in May 1902, compared with 86 for their opponent. There have been 46 draws.
Real are one goal away from breaking their own La Liga record for a season of 107 set under Welsh coach John Toshack and with Butragueno in the side in the 1989-90 season.
Spain’s top two have again set a blistering pace this season, which no other club has been able to match for long.

Barcelona defeat with chelsy yesterday.One ball reflect by sidebar.Otherwise result would be different for Barcelona.Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday that talk of him leaving the European champions for Chelsea was "fantasy".

Guardiola has been reported to be the number one target for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who earlier this season sacked Andre Villas-Boas and installed former Blues midfielder Roberto di Matteo as caretaker coach until the end of the season.

But not even the suggestion of a £10 million-a-year ($15.9m) contract appeared enough to sway the 41-year-old.

Speaking on the eve of Barcelona's Champions League semifinal first leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola downplayed all talk of a move, even though he has yet to sign a new contract with the Spanish giants.

"It is fantasy, it's hypothetical," he said. "I am coach of Barcelona now and they (Chelsea) have a good manager who is getting unbelievable results.

"It's not useful for Chelsea or for Barcelona to talk about that. There is no time to talk about that."

The fact Guardiola has yet to put pen to paper on a new Camp Nou contract has led to intense speculation on his future but, not for the first time this season, he insisted he was just concentrating on the match in front of him.

"I just want to focus on the game," he said ahead of Wednesday's clash in west London.

Several Chelsea players were on the losing side in 2009 when, having been denied several possible penalties, they saw Andres Iniesta's stoppage-time goal send Barcelona into the Champions League final.

Guardiola said: "A long time has passed. I don't think they are playing for revenge. What you have lost, is lost. We will both be playing to try to reach the final in Munich."

Barcelona's win over Chelsea three years ago was arguably the catalyst for their emergence as one of the greatest ever club sides and Guardiola, recalling that match, said: "That was our first year together.

"We had that kind of love story you have in the first year. We were united, and we scored that goal right at the end. The rest is history."

Although Barcelona will be firm favourites for this semifinal, Guardiola has been impressed by Chelsea's revival under Di Matteo; comparing his impact to that of Guus Hiddink, who had a caretaker spell as Blues boss three years age.So that is great news for bacelona.

"They've changed the manager and a couple of players, but the same players are largely there.

"I do admire that generation of players, who have done so well over the last seven years and have got into so many semifinals and finals, and competed in the Premier League so well.

"We shouldn't forget they've been very consistent here in this stadium, 

Barcelona will win the match definitely.  Chelsea secured progress to the last four last night by seeing off Portuguese side Benfica 3-1 on aggregate. Chelsea boasted a 1-0 lead heading into the quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge and looked to be cruising through after Frank Lampard’s first-half penalty was followed up by Maxi Pereira’s 40th-minute dismissal for two bookable offences. However, Benfica attacked after the break and forced a nervy ending when Javi Garcia nodded home five minutes from time. Raul Meireles netted in stoppage time to settle proceedings and set up a semi-final encounter with reigning champions Barcelona. “It will be exciting to play two games against probably one of the best teams in the world,” Di Matteo said. “We will find a strategy that will suit our players and our team to face Barcelona. “I think it will be a combination [of playing to our strengths and attempting to cancel out their players]. “They obviously have some individual players that are a big threat and very dangerous, but we also have to play our game and play to our strengths.” One blot on Chelsea’s evening was an injury to captain John Terry. The 31 year-old looked superb in central defence but had to be replaced in the 59th minute by Gary Cahill. “He got a knock on his rib and that’s why we had to take him off,” Di Matteo said. “We’ll assess him and see how he is. We hope that he is going to be okay.” While Chelsea move onto bigger and better things, the visitors were left to rue what could have been. Benfica manager Jorge Jesus felt his side deserved to progress and was quick to dismiss Chelsea’s prospects of overcoming Barca in the next round. “I am really proud of my players,” he said. “Over the two games we proved we were much the better team. I can’t understand how we’re out. “What hurts me is that we’ve knocked out better teams than this Chelsea. “That’s what leaves me with a certain sense of revolt. I may be wrong but I believe Chelsea have no chance against Barcelona.”

Soccer is the most popular sports in the world.Lionen messy is one of the wonder of football world.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates Pedro's goal against Getafe during their Spanish first division soccer match at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona April 10, 2012. (REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino)

MADRID: Spanish football may be enjoying one of its most successful eras, powered by Barcelona and Real Madrid’s charge through the Champions League, but the glittering success on the pitch hides a darker story.
As Real and Barca are through to the elite Champions League semifinals, and three Spanish clubs are into the Europa League last four, a survey of the accounts of the country’s top clubs reveals a tale of crippling debts and tax arrears.
Real Madrid lead Barcelona by four points at the top of La Liga, but the global superstars also rival each other in the depth of their debts – Real have accumulated 589 million euros ($772 million) to Barcelona’s 578 million euros.
The archrivals’ debts eclipse their revenues, which for 2010-2011 amounted to 479 million euros for Real Madrid and 450 million euros for Barcelona.
Europa League semifinals Valencia and Atletico Madrid are also both awash with red ink, to the tune of 382 and 514 million euros respectively.
But the latest figure to hit the headlines in Spain is the 752 million euros that Spain’s elite clubs owe to the tax man at a time when more than 5 million are unemployed and the government is asking citizens for more sacrifices.Foot ball can be the source of earning.So the government has to take the necessary steps to improve this problem.
The Sports Ministry announced a plan to ensure that football pays for its own debts. But for the moment it is unclear how they will do so.
Six of the 20 Liga clubs – Rayo Vallecano, Racing Santander, Real Betis, Zaragoza, Granada and Mallorca – are currently in bankruptcy proceedings, as are another six second-division teams.
“That figure alone shows that Spanish football is not well managed financially,” said Barcelona University professor of economics Jose Maria Gay de Liebana, who specializes in football.
The analyst compared Spanish football’s debts, which he estimated at 3.5 billion euros in total, to the frenzy of the country’s property market bubble, which imploded in 2008.
“Football is a mirror of the general economy in Spain. For years we have been spending beyond our means, getting deeper and deeper into debt,” the professor explained.
“For football it’s the same: For years clubs have made colossal and inefficient investments. And as they did not have their own funds to finance these expenses, they went massively into debt.”
A good example of the race to invest, no matter the cost, is Valencia’s “New Mestalla” stadium.
In 2007, in the midst of the property boom, Valencia decided to buy itself a new 70,000-seat stadium – even though it has only 39,000 members.
The 300 million euro construction cost was supposed to be financed by the sale of the land from its old stadium for some 400 million euros.
Two years later, engulfed by the property market crisis, construction at the site stopped when the club realized it could not find buyers for the old stadium property.
One other factor may have contributed to the accumulation of debts – a lack of financial control by Spanish institutions.
Some blame a lax attitude by the Spanish football league, others the league’s inability to impose tough sporting sanctions.
Until very recently the Spanish professional football league did not have the power to relegate a club that fell into bankruptcy.
Some teams even used the bankruptcy law to their advantage, enjoying legal protection from their creditors while continuing to play football at the highest level.
“I think the new law that came into force in January 2012, which now authorizes the authorities to relegate a club in bankruptcy, will change things a lot,” sports lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo said.
It is unclear, however, if the authorities would risk the public backlash of taking on a football club.
In the 1990s when the footballing authorities threatened to relegate Celta Vigo and Sevilla because of problems with their registration paperwork, they were forced to backpedal under huge pressure from fan.

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