Tello recalls Guardiola's anger over the leaked line-up for the 2012 Clasico

Cristian Tello still remembers Pep Guardiola's anger after Barcelona's line-up was leaked ahead of the 2012 Clasico. On 21 April that year, the coach had caused surprise by selecting, among others, Tello and Thiago Alcántara. Starting the match, the winger saw Barça lose 2-1 to José Mourinho's Real Madrid, a result that definitively moved the league title closer to the Madrid club.

Tello has since brought his professional playing career to an end. The Sabadell winger, who announced his retirement at the beginning of September at the age of 35, finishes with 512 professional appearances. He represented FC Barcelona, Porto, Fiorentina, Betis, Los Ángeles FC, Al-Fateh and Al-Ohod.

According to the reported details of his interview with RAC1, the former Barça player revisited several defining episodes of his career, including that Clasico in April 2012. Above all, he remembers the disclosure of the team sheet, which came during the day after the squad's morning training session at Camp Nou. “Guardiola started the team talk in a bad mood, angry because the line-up had been leaked,” he said.

“I remember it with excitement, but not very fondly, because it was a strange situation,” Tello explained. “We trained in the morning at Camp Nou, Guardiola named the line-up and, during the day, at lunch, it was leaked.” He added that Messi was not angry about the line-up, but that the context of a Clasico in which he himself was involved had made the team talk begin in an especially harsh tone. “Guardiola was already saying that we had to be united, a family, and that the person who leaked it had to be among us. He was very angry,” he recalled.

The interview also gave Tello the opportunity to discuss working under Guardiola, a period he considers fundamental to his development. “Guardiola was a genius. Everything he told us in the team talks then happened in the match,” he said. “Every day, we enjoyed a team talk or an aspect of training. He was very demanding, very intense, almost obsessed with football, but the players understood him.”

The former winger believes that such demands may have played a part in the coach's decision to end his spell at Barça. “Guardiola is intense and demanding. He had been at Barça for a long time, winning everything, and I think he may have felt that he had worn the players out with his demands,” he suggested.

With his retirement still recent, Tello said he does not miss football. “I retired not long ago and I do not miss it for now. I have my hobbies. Three years ago, I created a car company because I like the motor industry. It is a business in Terrassa that buys and sells mid-range and high-end cars,” he said.

His new routine therefore combines two of his main interests: cars and golf. He has replaced football training with gym sessions, padel and, above all, golf, an activity he shares with Jonathan Soriano, his former Barça B team-mate. Tello is also part of Barça Legends.