I heard every word before Leeds United silenced giddy Man City superstars with magic moment
Marcelo Bielsa’s time at Leeds United was magical for so many reasons and so many moments but few will surpass what they conjured up together on April 10 2021.
On April 10 2021 there was snow on roads up and over the hills before the descent into Manchester. There was a chill in the air as Leeds United took on the might of Pep Guardiola's world-class superstars. There was ice in the veins of Stuart Dallas as he went clean through to win the game for 10-man Leeds United.
Four years on from that incredible day Manchester City might have lost a little of their lustre but back then they were imperious kings of English football. Of the 28 games that preceded Leeds' visit to an empty Etihad stadium, Manchester City had won 27. They were the Premier League champions elect. The respective financial accounts released in the week before the game showed a payroll of £351.4m at City and one of £78m at Leeds.
Guardiola named £49m Raheem Sterling, £41m Nathan Ake, £43m Bernardo Silva, £34m Fernandinho and £27m Gabriel Jesus in his starting line-up. Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, İlkay Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez were among an all-star cast of supporting actors on the bench. "They're the best team in the world," said Leeds defender Robin Koch.
How it began
Covid-19 restrictions meant that supporters had to watch from home and that gave the few of us accredited journalists in the stadium a chance to hear just about everything said on and off the pitch. The first 45 minutes was all about what we were seeing, because Leeds not only held their own, they took the lead. Helder Costa took advantage of hesitancy in the defence, found Dallas and he opened the scoring.
As if they needed it, the home side got a helping hand when VAR recommended referee Andre Marriner take another look at Liam Cooper's follow-through on an attempted clearance. The contact with Jesus' knee was sufficient that the red card came out, Cooper left the pitch and all and sundry believed that Leeds' chances of victory went with him.
It wasn't until the 76th minute that City equalised though, with Marcelo Bielsa sending on Pascal Struijk and Robin Koch to help pack the defence. Leeds ceded the middle of the pitch to the hosts and refused to engage until play came within a certain distance of Illan Meslier's goal. Leeds did hold a counter attacking threat through Raphinha, who bust a gut for the cause, but Dallas' earlier goal was the only shot the away side had mustered and no one really expected there to be another. John Stones was allowed to run the ball relentlessly at Leeds and the top flight leaders grew steadily more sure of themselves.
Covid times brought different matchday routines and practises for the media. The need for social distancing meant journalists were dotted around a larger area and that put this correspondent just behind the Manchester City substitutes' seats where, as their side became more and more ominous, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy grew more and more giddy. Walker had scarcely shut up throughout the afternoon, asking Spanish team-mate Eric Garcia to translate what Bielsa was saying to his Leeds players, barracking ex-City man Ian Poveda as he went to warm up with his fellow Leeds subs. He expressed admiration for Leeds' performance as the game went on. But he and Mendy got louder and louder the later it got, the latter mock-screaming in complaint as Meslier took his time over a restart.
How it ended
Their laughter was silenced, abruptly, when Gjanni Alioski got the ball wide left and Dallas decided he might as well go and win it. His run took him in behind Stones, whose legs were wearing the time he had spent taking the ball forward, and the Northern Ireland international went all the way to the box where he beat Ederson with a cool finish. The only noise at that point came from visiting players, staff and officials.
One of the corner stones of Bielsa’s success at Leeds was the belief he instilled in his players. Belief that they could give anyone a game and beat them too. It also helped that even in stoppage time, with 10 men, against genuine world beaters, Leeds had the legs and lungs to go from halfway in the blink of an eye. And even if they went into the game believing they could pull something special off, they would never have dreamt it could happen like this. There was joy in their celebrations and disbelief too at what they had managed to pull off.
The looks exchanged in the press box were ones of pure astonishment. It was a privilege to be there watching Bielsaball in so many grounds, with and without supporters present, but this was a special one.
To this day memories of that game still take on a surreal, dream-like quality. But it actually happened. Just as Raphinha, the Ballon d'Or candidate, actually played for Leeds United and Bielsa actually managed them. The crying shame of it all was that no one, beyond us lucky few, was there to see it, soundtrack it and celebrate it. But it happened.