Gennaro Gattuso isn’t one to ask for favours.
The Milan and Italy legend retired in 2013 and has since crafted an impressive CV, stabilising a number of European giants in crisis, the latest being Marseille.
One of the game’s greatest-ever defensive midfielders, Gattuso was left stunned at Milan when facing Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
So impressed was Gattuso, that once he retired he made it his goal to spend some time with the Spaniard before starting his coaching career.
That included a rather amusing trip to Bayern Munich’s training ground, as the Italian revealed to L’Equipe.
“When I was 27 or 28 we faced Barça with Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Messi… And something happened inside me,” he said.
“We ran for 95 minutes, I did a marathon in each game against them and touched the ball three or four times. We didn’t understand what was happening.
“So I started to get interested in the issue, I studied, I analyzed…”
Calling time on his career shortly after, Gattuso made it his goal to have a meeting with Guardiola.
“I spent almost three days outside Bayern’s training ground, waiting to see Guardiola’s car arrive,” he revealed.
“I hadn’t asked anyone for anything because I don’t like asking for favours.
“He recognised me when he passed us, but we had already been there the previous two days. Gigi [assistant] and I were freezing to death.”
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