FCB under Pep Guardiolas 2008-2012
FC Barcelona B youth manager Pep
Guardiola took over Frank Rijkaard's duties at the conclusion of the season. Guardiola
brought with him the now famous tiki-taka style of play he had been taught
during his time in the Barcelona
youth teams. In the process Guardiola sold Ronaldinho and Deco, and started
building the Barcelona
team around Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.
Barça beat Athletic Bilbao 4–1 in
the 2009 Copa del Rey Final, winning the competition for a record-breaking 25th
time. A historic 2–6 victory against Real Madrid followed three days later and
ensured that Barcelona
became La Liga
champions for the 2008–09 season. Barça finished the season by beating the
previous year's Champions League winners Manchester United 2–0 at the Stadio
Olimpico in Rome
to win their third Champions League title and completed the first ever treble
won by a Spanish side. The team went on to win the 2009 Supercopa de España
against Athletic Bilbao and the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk,
becoming the first European club to win both domestic and European Super Cups
following a treble. In December 2009, Barcelona
won the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, and became the first football club ever to
accomplish the sextuple. Barcelona accomplished two new records in Spanish
football in 2010 as they retained the La Liga trophy with 99 points and won the Spanish
Super Cup trophy for a ninth time.
After Laporta's departure from the
club in June 2010, Sandro Rosell was soon elected as the new president. The
elections were held on 13 June, where he got 61.35% (57,088 votes, a record) of
total votes. Rosell signed David Villa from Valencia for €40 million. and
Javier Mascherano from Liverpool for €19
million. In November 2010, Barcelona
defeated their main rival, Real Madrid 5–0 in El Clásico. In the 2010–11
season, Barcelona
retained the La Liga
trophy, their third title in succession, finishing with 96 points. In April
2011, the club reached the Copa del Rey final, losing 1–0 to Real Madrid at the
Mestalla in Valencia .
In May, Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League Final
3–1 held at Wembley Stadium, a repeat of the 2009 final, winning their fourth
European Cup. In August 2011, the La
Masia graduate Cesc Fàbregas was bought from Arsenal and who
would help Barcelona
defend the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid. The Supercup victory brought
the total amount of official trophies to 73, matching the number of titles won
by Real Madrid.
Later the same month, Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup after defeating Porto 2–0 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Cesc
Fábregas. This extended the club's overall amount of official trophies to 74,
surpassing Real Madrid's total amount of official trophies. The UEFA Super Cup
victory also marked another impressive achievement as Josep Guardiola won his
12th trophy out of 15 possible in only three years at the helm of the club,
becoming the all-time record holder of most titles won as a coach at FC
Barcelona.
In December, Barcelona won the FIFA
Club World Cup for a record second time since its establishment, by beating the
Brazilian 2011 Copa Libertadores holders, Santos, 4–0 in the final thanks to
two goals from Lionel Messi and goals from Xavi and Fábregas. As a result, the
overall trophy haul during the reign of Guardiola was further extended and saw
Barcelona win their 13th trophy out of 24 possible in 4 years, continuing their
high-quality performance in recent world football competitions.
The 2011–12 season ended with Barça
unable to defend their La Liga
and Champions League titles. In the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League
against European rivals Chelsea, they lost the first leg away 1–0 conceding an
extra time goal despite dominating possession and shots on goal. This was
followed by a 2–1 home loss to Real Madrid that all but decided the domestic
league championship. In the second leg against Chelsea ,
Barça again dominated possession and shots, initially taking a 2–0 lead but
then the Blues scored to level the aggregate score and take the lead in away
goals; afterward Messi missed a penalty and Chelsea scored in extra time to finish the
game 2–2, overall eliminating Barça 3–2 on aggregate. Right afterward, coach
Pep Guardiola, who had been on a rolling contract and had faced criticism over
his recent tactics and squad selections, announced that he would step down as
manager on 30 June and be succeeded by assistant Tito Vilanova. Guardiola
finished his tenure with Barça winning the remaining La Liga games and the Copa del
Rey final 3–0, bringing the tally to 14 trophies that Barça had won under his
stewardship.
Guardiola's four trophy-laden years
has inspired British director Paul Greengrass to make make a documentary about
the Catalan giants. Entitled Barça, the film will examine the process and
legacy of one of the world's most famous sports franchises, focusing primarily
on the four years in which Guardiola guided the club to 14 trophies. The movie
is expected to be finished ahead of the 2014 World Cup, when public attention
will begin focusing on the international event in Rio de Janeiro .
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