Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side has drawn more comparisons with Johan
Cruyff’s great ‘Dream Team’ of the 1990s, after winning a third
consecutive Spanish league crown and reaching a second Champions League
final in three seasons.
Barcelona had a remarkable five
‘Clasicos’ against rivals Real Madrid in the 2010/11 campaign, and
Guardiola outfoxed counterpart Jose Mourinho, as Barca coasted to the
league title and beat their foes over two legs in the Champions League
semi-finals.
Barcelona became the first side to win three
back-to-back league titles since Cruyff’s Barcelona team, when Guardiola
played as a defensive midfielder, won the third of four league titles
back in 1993.
Argentine Lionel Messi, still only 23, was the
inspiration this year once again for Barcelona, scoring more than 50
goals with 31 coming in the league, as he retained the Ballon D’Or award
for the world’s best player.
Messi scored three times against
Real, including a wonder goal in the 2-0 Champions League semi first leg
win at the Santiago Bernabeu, when he ran half the pitch and dribbled
past four defenders before finishing with aplomb.
Barcelona
suffered an early setback in the league with a home defeat to promoted
Hercules but, from there on, they were the model of consistency with a
32-game unbeaten run as they led from the front.
New signing David Villa adapted well, with the Spanish World Cup winner scoring 18 league goals in his debut campaign.
Villa
was on target twice as Barcelona thumped Real 5-0 at Camp Nou in
November – a match that will be long remembered by Barca fans, as the
Catalans gave Mourinho the heaviest defeat of his career.
The
only disappointment was the Kings Cup final when they lost 1-0 to Real
in extra-time, but Barcelona had the ultimate revenge with a 3-1
aggregate victory in the Champions League semi-finals.
The
animosity between the two sides cranked up a notch, as the two bitter
rivals met four times in a crucial 18 days that would define their
respective seasons.
But Guardiola continued his impressive record
against Real, boasting six wins, two draws and one defeat from their
nine meetings in all competitions.
Mourinho and Guardiola were embroiled in a war of words on the eve of the Champions semi first leg in Madrid.
Barcelona
did their talking on the pitch in beating Real 2-0 at the Santiago
Bernabeu, their third successive win on the ground, and a 1-1 draw in
the return leg saw Barcelona and Guardiola reach their second Champions
League final in three seasons.
Barcelona defeated Manchester
United in the 2009 Champions League final, as part of a historic treble,
and the two will face off again at Wembley Stadium on May 29.
Six
league titles as a player made Guardiola, a Catalan-born and bred, a
hero in Barcelona and his popularity is reaching iconic status after
guiding the club to the league title in each of his three seasons in
charge.
And Guardiola insisted the domestic title was the most
important piece of silverware despite the glamour of the Champions
League.
“The league is the most important trophy of the season,
as it gives us more credibility,” said Guardiola. “It gives us the most
pride and reflects the effort and hard work across the whole season.”
