Pep Guardiola is on the verge of making history with Manchester City. After coming to the Premier League, Pep has turned Manchester City into the most dominant force in recent English football history. Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool are the only side that have been able to overcome Man city in the last few years. Despite their brilliance in the Premier League, Guardiola has been criticized over the years for his failure to win the Champions League with the citizens. He now has a golden opportunity to silence his critics though, as City are on course to achieve a historic treble. A win vs Inter Milan would finally see City accomplish their European dreams. Speaking of a treble, let us now go back to Pep's legendary stint at Barcelona in 2008-09 that saw them achieve their first ever treble in the history of the club.
The Highlights of Barcelona first treble season:
The manager
Pep Guardiola was of course the manager of Barcelona at the time. It must however be noted that he was just appointed as Barcelona coach at the time, and it was going to be his first season at the club. Pep had already coached the Barca B team for a year, and was now ready to take charge of the first-team. He had won it all with Barcelona as their player, and it was now time for him to create history with the club as a manager.
Transfers
This was one of the most important transfer windows in the history of the club. Key players like Ronaldinho and Deco had left the club, while experienced defenders Zambrotta and Thuram were leaving as well.
2 major players that joined the club that window were a certain Gerard Piqué and Dani Alves, while an academy played named Sergio Busquets was promoted to the first-team as well.
Barcelona Treble 2009 squad
Víctor Valdés was the goalkeeper of Barcelona at the time, while the defensive line included the likes of Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, captain Carles Puyol, and Eric Abidal. The famous midfield-duo of Xavi and Iniesta were partnered with Yaya Touré when it came to the midfield. Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, and Leo Messi were the forwards of the team.
When it came to the bench, players like Sergio Busquets, Bojan, Keita, Hleb, Sylvinho, and Márquez were important for the team.
Formation and tactics
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona played in a 4-3-3 formation that had a high defensive-line and was a menace to their opponents due to their brilliant pressing ability. Yaya Touré was the defensive shield that give more freedom to Xavi and Iniesta, while the brilliant link-up play between Messi and Dani Alves was another dangerous element of the team.
A 4-3-1-2 formation was used at times as well, which saw Messi as the false 9 while Eto'o and Henry operating as wingers.
The Barcelona 2008-2009 season
Pep Guardiola's first season as Barcelona coach saw them absolutely dominate La Liga, as even Arch-rivals Real Madrid weren't able to handle the brilliance of the Blaugrana. Barca went on to score over 105 league goals that seasons, and won the League by 9 points after reaching 87 points.
The Copa Del Rey saw a similar story as well, as Barcelona cruised past all the teams including Atlético Madrid to reach the finals. They ended up crushing Athletic Bilbao 1-4 in the finals to lift their second domestic title of the season.
Coming to the Champions League, Barcelona had to first win a qualifying match against Wisła Kraków to become a part of the tournament. They easily did so, beating the polish 4-1 on aggregate.
The group stages saw them drawn with the likes of Sporting CP, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Basel. They comfortably ended the group as leaders and qualified for the knockout stages.The round of 16 and Quarter-finals saw Barcelona face Lyon and Bayern Munich respectively. Pep's men went on to put on a brilliant display against both teams, as Barca beat both sides in dominating fashion.
Barcelona's semi-final encounter vs Chelsea is a match that is still talked about to this day, mainly due to several controversial refereeing decisions. In the end Barca progressed to the finals due to the away-goal rule, with the aggregate score being 1-1.
The final was a battle between 2 legendary managers of the game. As Pep's Barcelona took on Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. One team had Leo Messi, and the other had Cristiano Ronaldo. A goal by former United player Piqué and Messi were enough for Barca to overcome United 2-0. They had won the Champions League again after 3 years, and achieved the first-ever treble in the history of Barcelona.
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