When it comes to European football, a handful of managers have left a permanent mark. This includes Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Johan Cruyff and more. While clubs under these managers have enjoyed unparalleled success, none has quite captured the finesse like Pep Guardiola’s four-season stint at Barcelona. He won 14 trophies in style and also invented tiki-taka, which is a possession-based re-imagination of European football. Guardiola’s Barcelona has played artistically, productively and often menacingly. So, today we explore the best football team in history: Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
Before Guardiola, Barcelona was in financial ruin. After the departure of manager Johan Cruyff, they struggled to win any significant silverware. In 2003, when Joan Laporta was appointed as the club president, he introduced Dutch manager Frank Rijkaard to the team. Rijkaard showed excellence by winning back-to-back La Liga titles and the club’s second-ever European Cup (UCL) in 2006. But his success was short-lived and Barcelona struggled after just two seasons. In 2008, Laporta decided to appoint someone new as manager. There were four candidates: Johan Cruyff, Michael Laudrup, Jose Mourinho and, Barcelona B team manager, Pep Guardiola. Among them, Mourinho was already enjoying superstardom. He won a European Cup, wreaked havoc in the Premier League with Chelsea and was alreeady a former Barcelona employee. It seemed obvious that Mourinho was the one, but Laporta appointed Guardiola to take charge. It must have felt like madness at that time, but no one could foresee what came next.
Upon Guardiola’s arrival, he parted ways with club legends Ronaldinho and Deco due to their excessive penchant for partying. Guardiola was a strict man and what he needed was a perfect balance. Boasting the finest La Masia (Barcelona Youth Academy) graduates such as Xavi and Messi, Guardiola’s team was predominantly composed of its own nurtured talents. These players forged an unprecedented, dynamic cohesion on the field, introducing a level of aggression previously unseen before Guardiola’s ascent. Most of these players weren’t the fastest or the most athletic, but they became the most feared because of their agility, press resistance and technical brilliance.
Nonetheless, the beginning was somewhat turbulent, marked by an initial loss and a subsequent draw in the league. Doubts swirled, with many questioning Laporta’s “shortsightedness” in appointing Guardiola, fearing it could lead to disaster. However, what unfolded next was nothing short of magical. Barcelona went on to win everything that season. They ended the season with the fabled treble by winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League. After that, the UEFA Super Cup, Supercopa and Club World Cup soon followed. Barcelona became the first team in football history to win six major trophies in a calendar year: the sextuple. In the Champions League final, they thrashed Ferguson’s Manchester United in a display of exemplary dominance, which they would do again in the 2010-11 Champions League final.
Under Guardiola’s precise guidance, Barcelona won 14 trophies. The club also saw Messi’s absolute brilliance take over the spotlight, with him setting a world record of 91 goals in a calendar year in 2012. Furthermore, Spain clinched the 2010 World Cup, fielding seven Barcelona players in the starting lineup, and triumphed in the 2008 and 2012 Euros. The club was in the midst of an extraordinary run of success.
Eventually, Guardiola grew tired of the pressure and called it quits. In 2012, he stepped down as manager. At first, this did not affect Barcelona very much, but Guardiola’s absence meant they would not repeat the same success again. Pep Guardiola achieved the impossible with his sheer brilliance. Without much experience, he took a struggling club to the very top of the football realm. We will not see this gargantuan success repeated anytime soon. Guardiola’s Barcelona remains the best football team of all time.