Reuters
Soccer-False nine was Guardiola’s secret weapon, now it’s unstoppable
Even the best players in the world have not been spared Pep Guardiola’s attacking tactical innovations. “I was called up to Guardiola’s office and he said he had thought about me playing as a false nine,” Barcelona’s Lionel Messi said last year. The game in question was in 2009, as Barcelona, en route to winning the treble under Guardiola, put on an exhilarating display of attacking football with this new system, hammering arch-rivals Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu stadium.