undistinguished playing career at Mallorca in which he made just
nine appearances over three years. Now, however, the Spaniard is
enjoying his 15 minutes of fame for his role in helping Joe Hart
stop Leo Messi's penalty on Tuesday night.
After hanging up his gloves, Mancisidor became a goalkeeping coach
and has been working with Manuel Pellegrini since the Chilean's
spell at Real Madrid, meaning he moved to Manchester City as part
of Pellegrini's backroom staff.
Benjamin Franklin once said that "By failing to prepare, you are
preparing to fail", but no one could accuse Hart of being ill-
prepared when Messi stepped up to the spot. This is because
Mancisidor had spent the days in the lead-up to the game studying
footage of the Argentine's last 15 penalties. He then compiled a
single video of the ones he felt were most relevant from a keeper's
point of view and watched it alongside the City no. 1. However,
what he didn't do was make any suggestions - it was up to the
Englishman to draw his own conclusions and act on them.
The pair also prepared for other aspects of Barça's game, from
their use of through balls into the box to their set-piece routines
and the forwards' shooting patterns. Now Mancisidor will likely be
putting together clips of other 'Azulgranas' players taking penalties,
in case Messi is relieved of his spot-kick duties or the tie goes to a
shootout.
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