Bielsa gave a goal back. He'd been fined for taking one.

On 28 April 2019, Leeds United and Aston Villa drew 1-1 at Elland Road. The scoreline is the least interesting thing about the match.

In the 72nd minute, Jonathan Kodjia was down injured after a foul. Villa's players had asked for the ball to be put out of play. Nothing in the laws of the game required Leeds to do that. Stopping for an injured opponent is a convention, not a rule — and that distinction is the whole story.

Tyler Roberts did not put the ball out. He played Mateusz Klich through, and Klich scored. A mass confrontation followed on the pitch. Anwar El Ghazi was shown a straight red card for an apparent push in Patrick Bamford's face. Replays showed no contact. The sending-off happened; the contact did not.

Bielsa then instructed his players to allow Villa to equalise. Albert Adomah ran through and scored, effectively unopposed. One player did not comply: Pontus Jansson tried to tackle Adomah and failed. A manager can instruct. A defender can still refuse.

The match finished 1-1. That result meant Leeds could not take an automatic promotion place. Sheffield United went up automatically instead. Leeds went into the play-offs and were not promoted that season.

Bielsa said two things afterwards. First: "We gave the goal back." Second: "English football is known for its sportsmanship, so I don't need to comment on this kind of thing, which is common in English football." The second sentence credits the convention to English football rather than to himself.

In September 2019, Leeds United and Bielsa received the 2019 FIFA Fair Play Award at FIFA's annual awards ceremony in Milan — for giving the goal back.

Now go back three months.

In January 2019, a Leeds United employee was caught watching a Derby County training session before the two clubs met on 11 January. Leeds won that match 2-0. Bielsa admitted it immediately and went further: he said he had done the same to every opponent that season.

In February 2019, the EFL fined Leeds United 200,000 pounds. The breach was of EFL Regulation 34, which requires each club to behave towards the others with the utmost good faith. A formal rule was subsequently introduced making it an offence to watch another club's training session within 72 hours of a fixture between them.

Fined in February for taking an advantage. In April, he gave one back. The FIFA Fair Play Award was presented in September — seven months after the fine.

Both things are true of the same man in the same season. The second is rarely told with the first.