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As the sun sets on one more thrilling season of football, it is time for fans to indulge in drawn out discussions about the season that just ended. Of the many things that will be discussed, one will most certainly be about how this Barcelona side became the first team to win the treble twice. It is not a simple feat by any means as only a handful of teams have managed to win a treble in the history of the game.
Barcelona’s achievement becomes even more amazing considering they had to battle an equally superior Real Madrid side for the league title. But this is Barcelona we are talking about and they have dominated Spain and Europe alike for the past decade and outclassed several European giants in the process.
In the last ten years, Barcelona have won four UEFA Champions League titles (2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015) and have also made the semi-finals on at least four other occasions. And on those four occasions, the team that beat them went on to win the trophy (Manchester United - 2008, Internazionale - 2010, Chelsea - 2012 and Bayern Munich - 2013).
In the remaining two years, the team that beat them in earlier knockout stages (Liverpool – R16 in 2007 & Atletico Madrid – QF in 2014) went on to lose in the final. Even though Barcelona were defeated by other teams in the same period, none of the teams who defeated them have come remotely come close to achieving the same level of consistency.
In addition to their unparalleled success in Europe in the last decade, Barcelona have kept the mighty Real Madrid at bay by winning six out of the last ten league titles, three Copa del Rey titles and five Supercopa de Espana trophies.
Overall they have amassed 22 titles in the last 10 years while accomplishing the treble twice and also becoming the first team to win the sextuple in 2009! So is the Barcelona side of recent times the greatest football team in the history of the game?
Barcelona successfully integrated star signings with La Masia graduates
When Real Madrid adopted their Galacticos policy and went on a shopping spree to gather the best players from around the world, Barcelona reaped the benefits of concentrating on their academy and grooming their youth players into potential superstars. Since the turn of the century, this side has slowly and steadily been filled with La Masia graduates. Some of the most prominent names among them are Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Pedro, Sergio Busquets and most importantly Lionel Messi.
Barcelona didn’t hold back on signing quality players though. Every year they spent a significant amount of money on few players who could walk into the team and make an impact. But the core of their team was still the players from La Masia.
The Catalans signed world class players like Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto’o, Daniel Alves, Javier Mascherano, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, Neymar and Luis Suarez who played a big role in their successful years.
Barcelona’s team was not built overnight by splashing the cash on several players all at once. Their patience with their academy players and their carefully planned purchase of several top-notch players made them into a formidable force to reckon with. Now they have a team filled with players who can change a game on their own.
Take the case of their current strike force of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. They are individually brilliant and spearhead the attack for their respecive countries, but together they have proved to be devastating and have broken records for fun.
Page 2: Comparing Barcelona with all-time European greats
How does Barcelona compare with other dominant teams from the past?
Barcelona is not the first team to dominate domestic and European competitions for long periods, many other clubs have done the same before. So what makes Barcelona stand out from the crowd?
The Real Madrid team of the mid-1950s won five European Cups on the trot, but back in those days only league champions were allowed in the tournament and many countries didn’t send their teams for the tournament (like England). It consisted of players like Di Stefano, Juan Alonso, Marquitos, Miguel Minoz, Jose Zarraga, Jose Fernandez etc who were all Real Madrid greats and some of the greatest players of their generations.
It took Real Madrid six more years to win the trophy again. In domestic competitions they were racking up league titles for fun, but they didn’t have to face any real challenge back in those days.
Later on, the tournament became more prestigious and far more competitive. And in the ‘70s the tournament was dominated by several teams one after the other, starting with Ajax, followed by Bayern Munich and then Liverpool.
The Ajax team which won a hat-trick of titles in the ‘70s was full of Dutch players of which the most memorable name is that of Johan Cruyff. In addition to Cruyff the other key players of that time were Wim Suurbier, Barry Hulshoff, Johan Neeskens, Sjaak Swart, Gerrie Muhren, Pat Keizer and Dick van Dijk. their performance on either side of their dominating period was not equally convincing. The same could be said about Bayern Munich side as well which consisted of players like Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck and Franz Roth.
But their performance on either side of their dominating period was not equally convincing. The same could be said about Bayern Munich side as well which consisted of players like Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier.
Bob Paisley’s Liverpool then arrived on the scene in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. Paisley himself was the first manager to win the European cup thrice and it was only recently matched by Ancelotti, but Paisley did it in a space of five years.
He managed the Reds for only 9 years and it overlapped with a major part of Liverpool’s successful era and gave birth to legends such as Ray Clemence, Ray Kennedy, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Ian Rush. But Liverpool’s dominance died by the end of the 1980s and they had to wait for 21 years to win their first Champions League since 1984!
After the ‘70s, it took a while for another team to dominate Europe. The AC Milan side of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s did the same once again. They won several honours with players such as Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard and Carlo Ancelotti.
With the legendary Arrigo Sacchi at the helm, that team came to be known as Gli Immortali - The Immortals. This side continued their dominance in league throughout the ‘90s, but didn’t do well in domestic competitions in the 2000s despite winning two UEFA Champions titles and reaching another final.
| Team | Decade of dominance | League titles | European titles | Domestic Cups | Trebles | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 1954-1964 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Ajax | 1965-1975 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| Bayern Munich | 1966-1976 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Liverpool | 1976-1986 | 7 | 5* | 5** | 0 | 17 |
| AC Milan | 1987-1997 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Barcelona | 2006-2015 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
*Liverpool won the UEFA Cup once in that period, which is now known as the UEFA Europa League.
**In England there are two domestic cups and Liverpool won four league cups and one FA Cup
Although the great Liverpool side from the 1970s and 1980s edge out Barcelona in terms of trophies won, they had an extra cup to compete in every year as England has two different domestic tournaments in comparison to Spain. The Liverpool squad from that glorious period did not win any more European honours while this Barcelona side are sure to win more trophies in the coming years.
Moreover, Liverpool were far more superior than all teams in the English top tier during that period while Barcelona has always had to compete with an equally strong and cash-rich Real Madrid side for all trophies. And the competitiveness in European competitions have also increased manifold over the years.
For example, Barcelona’s road to glory this year in the Champions League saw them beat the French Champions, Dutch Champions and Cyprus Champions in the group stage and then English, French, German and Italian Champions in the knockout stages to be crowned European champions. In addition to this they also defeated the Spanish Champions, European Champions and Europa League winners in domestic tournaments.
Conclusion
So is Barcelona the best team to grace the game? Without a doubt! It’s not just because they have won so many honours in recent times, but also because of how well they have managed to make appropriate changes to their team even if it meant that they had to let go of big names.
They had a couple of trophyless seasons in the last decade under Rijkaard and Martino, but they managed to bounce back quickly and on both occasions and they responded with a treble. The ability to adapt to the changing scenario is what makes them so dangerous. And under the current circumstances, it looks like their dominance will continue for a long time to come.
