From Al Pacino's speech in "Any Given Sunday" to the battle speeches in "300," many coaches have filled their locker rooms with clips from inspirational films to motivate their players. One of the greatest of them all is no exception... the day before entering the arena for the 2009 Champions League final against Manchester United, Pep Guardiola cut short a training session to gather his players in front of a screen and show them a seven-minute montage combining action from Barça's season with inspiring clips from the film Gladiator. "He contacted me three days before the final and said: 'I need you to help me win the Champions League,'" the Catalan journalist and friend of current Manchester City manager Santiago Padro. "When I went to see him to show him the montage, there were a dozen DVDs of Manchester matches on his desk and he said to me: 'Do you think Ferguson studies my team that much?' Proof that a motivational speech alone is not enough, although by the players' own admission it had an effect and some players even cried after the screening. The next day, the Catalans won 2-0.
On the eve of the 2009 Champions League final, Pep Guardiola showed Barça players excerpts from the film ‘Gladiator’ to motivate them / ©Icon Sport