Guardiola’s Success and Martinez’s Rise: Football’s Defensive Brilliance and Recognition

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, garnered a lot of attention when he spoke positive things about Lisandro Martinez, a defender for Manchester United who is 26 years old.

Over the course of the 2023-2024 season, Manchester City was defeated by Manchester United in the English FA Cup final, which took place at Wembley Stadium in London, England on the 25th (Korean time). The final score was 1-2. The ‘Manchester Derby’ was a surprising loss for Manchester City, who had just won the league title and was looking for a double (two titles), but they ended up losing.

After allowing Alejandro Garnacho to score the opening goal in the 30th minute of the first half and then scoring an extra goal from Kobe Mainu in the 39th minute, Manchester City found themselves in a position where they were unable to secure the victory too early. It was Jeremy Doku who scored the consolation goal for Manchester City in the 42nd minute of the second half, but the club was unable to score any further goals during the course of the match.

It’s possible that Coach Guardiola has a lot of regrets. On the other hand, Coach Guardiola did not hold back any appreciation for Martinez, the defender for the opposition team. In spite of the fact that Martinez was just 175 centimeters tall, he was able to effectively block Erling Holland, who was about 20 centimeters higher than Martinez at 194 centimeters.

In spite of Martinez’s diligent defense, Holan was unable to raise the number of assault points. Holland was not deserving of being the top scorer in the league for two consecutive years after he transferred to Manchester City. He did not score a goal or provide an assist in any of the six finals that he participated in, including the game that took place today. All of these games left a mark of disappointment.

After the game, the coach, Pep Guardiola, was quoted as saying, “Martinez is one of the top five center backs in the world,” and he also stressed that “He made the difference in this game by passing through our defense.” This was reported by the British Mirror on the 26th.

The admiration that Guardiola has shown for Martinez is not the first time that he has done so. Previously, in the year 2022, he stated, “It is crystal clear that Holland is tall,” but he also commended the player by saying, “I believe that people underestimate the player because of his height.” He asserts that he is a talented player in this case. His build-up skills are excellent, and he is a tremendous, aggressive player.

This season, Martinez was unable to participate in any games due to an injury. Due to the fact that he was unable to fully heal from the injuries he sustained during the previous season, he was placed back on the disabled list. In the encounter against Newcastle United, which took place on the sixteenth, Martinez was finally able to make his comeback to play.

When Martinez had played 73 minutes on that particular day, he was substituted. When he turned around, he claimed, “I had never before experienced any pain in my foot, knee, or calf.” After saying, “I almost thought this was a dream,” I continued by saying, “I have become really strong both mentally and physically because I only played in Newcastle, Brighton, and this final.”

“I was very disappointed that I couldn’t play until the end because of a cramp in my leg,” he said; “but I knew that my teammates were behind me, and they gave their all,” he remarked, expressing the delight of winning. He was referring to the fact that he was substituted during the game that day.

Kim Min-jae, who is 28 years old and plays for Bayern Munich, is a center defender like Lisandro Martinez. Where does he rank?

According to the British publication known as the “Guardian,” Kim Min-jae was rated 37th on the list of the “Top 100 World’s Best Soccer Players” at the end of the previous year. The list was compiled by a panel of 218 judges, which included coaches, reporters, and broadcasters. There were just centers that placed third among them, after Ruben Dias and John Stones (both of Manchester City).

Additionally, he was placed fourth among the “25 center backs” chosen by the United Kingdom’s “90min,” which was followed by Dias, Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), and David Alaba (Real Madrid). Twenty-first place went to Martinez.

In spite of this, Kim Min-jae’s side, Bayern Munich, finished in third place in the Bundesliga, and the squad’s image took a huge hit as a result of the manager, Thomas Tuchel, and the German media openly disparaging Kim Min-jae.

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