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Pep Guardiola's spell at Barcelona saw the club firmly establish themselves as the best in the world heading into the 2010s. An aura of invincibility surrounded the team in the new decade, partly due to the sudden increase in their trophy haul and partly because of their roster featuring the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi.
As a result, clubs resorted to drastic measures to stop the Spanish giants. Real Madrid, for instance, spent a whopping €261 million in one window on player recruitment to stop the rival juggernaut. Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, meanwhile, were among the teams who tried to counter the Blaugrana's infamous tiki-taka passing by playing 'negative' football.
Sometimes, however, all that was required to stop Barcelona were a few moments of individual brilliance. A remarkable strike, a crucial goal, or even an unprecedented hattrick; anything that made the giants look vulnerable once again.
We look at five such players who, owing to their brilliance, were able to stun the Spanish titans while silencing the Blaugrana faithful.
#1 Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
The 2012/13 UEFA Champions League saw a match-up of Spain versus Germany in both the semi-finals. While Borussia Dortmund faced Real Madrid in one semi-final, Bayern Munich went up against Barcelona in the other.
Bayern's match against the Blaugrana took centre-stage, with fans eager to witness two of the best sides in Europe go against each other. Some predicted a closely-fought encounter with a place in the final at stake, however, it turned out to be the complete opposite, with the Bavarians humiliating their opponents over two legs.
Bayern Munich thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg alone with Thomas Muller starring for the home side. The Germany international, playing in the hole behind Mario Gomez, scored twice himself while also assisting the striker. He was involved in the build-up play for Arjen Robben's strike too, thus playing a role in all four Bayern goals on the night.
Muller took home the man-of-the-match award, helping Bayern to a huge advantage. One week later, he scored once more to help his side win the return leg 3-0. His strike brought the aggregate score to 7-0 and handed Barcelona one of their worst losses in the competition.
#2 Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Barcelona's stunning comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 sent shockwaves around the football world. The Blaugrana overturned a 4-0 first-leg loss to beat the Parisiens 6-5 on aggregate with Sergi Roberto sealing the win in stoppage time.
With momentum now behind them, they came up against Massimiliano Allegri's Juventus in the quarter-finals. The Bianconeri were a well-oiled machine who remained unbeaten till that point in the competition. Furthermore, they had conceded only two goals while the combination of Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic had proven lethal at the other end.
Dybala, in particular, proved to be a nightmare for the Barcelona defence when the two teams met in the first leg. The Argentina international outshone his compatriot Lionel Messi on the night as he scored twice to help Juventus beat their opponents 3-0. The attacker scored his goals in some style too, using his left foot to curl the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen both times.
Juventus eventually won the tie 3-0 on aggregate before beating Monaco. The Bianconeri eventually lost to Real Madrid in the final.
#3 Divock Origi (Liverpool)
Barcelona started to stutter midway through the 2010s due to poor performances, several changes in coaches, and backroom troubles. As a result, by the time they faced Liverpool in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League semi-final, their aura of invincibility had all but disappeared. A horrible collapse against AS Roma a year earlier turned out to be the turning point, with the Spanish giants throwing away a three-goal cushion to crash out of the competition.
Nevertheless, a Lionel Messi-led Barcelona thrashed Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of the 2018/19 semi-finals, with the Argentinian himself scoring twice. The English side was not discouraged, however, with their opponents' collapse the previous year still fresh in mind.
It took Divock Origi just seven minutes into the second leg to cut Liverpool's deficit by one goal. Midfielder Giorginio Wijnaldum scored twice in the second half to bring the tie level on aggregate.
With time running out for both sides to find a winner, Origi once again turned up in Barcelona's box and hit an unstoppable strike from a cleverly-worked corner to put the Reds up on aggregate. The travelling support collectively held their heads in their hands while going through a horrifying sensation of Deja Vu.
#4 Emmanuel Boateng (Levante)
Barcelona's 2017/18 season was filled with highs and lows. While they suffered an embarrassing exit from the UEFA Champions League in the quarter-finals, they won the Copa del Rey and dominated La Liga. Ernesto Valverde's men looked set to go unbeaten in the league too until they met Emmanuel Boateng and Levante.
The season started well for Barcelona and they won their first seven matches while keeping five clean sheets. The challenges kept coming but the Spanish giants dealt with them easily and were sailing on top of the league. The talk of invincibility started soon after and Valverde's side addressed it by making it to game week 37 without a loss.
The penultimate match of the 17/18 season saw them take on Levante and fans expected a routine win. However, the Champions elect were left shell-shocked when striker Emmanuel Boateng put his side two up at the half-hour mark. Philippe Coutinho pulled one back for Barcelona but Enis Bardhi restored Levante's two-goal lead. Boateng punished the Blaugrana even further when he completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute, putting his side four-one up!
Bardhi added another goal to the tally making the score 5-1. Barcelona, however, fought back to make it 5-4 with Coutinho scoring a hattrick. Nevertheless, Boateng's remarkable treble was enough to help Levante to a memorable win while ending the away side's 'invincibles' dream.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid turned to Cristiano Ronaldo to help them counter Barcelona's dominance in 2010. Los Blancos paid a then world-record fee for the Portuguese attacker, who joined the club after several successful years at Manchester United.
However, Ronaldo did not enjoy much success against Real's fierce rivals in the league. During his time at the Santiago Bernabeu, Los Blancos only managed to win four El Clasicos in La Liga with Barcelona winning 10. Nevertheless, the Portugal international did make a huge impact on one particular derby which, in turn, helped the Madrid side massively on their way to the league title.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were neck-and-neck during the 2011/12 season. The two teams were led by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively, with both stars vying for the top-scorer tag. In the deep-end of the season, Real visited Camp Nou with just four points between them and their rivals. Barcelona, meanwhile, came into the match with a huge advantage, having put together a fifty-four game unbeaten steak at home.
Nevertheless, Sami Khedira put Real in front in the 17th minute of the match following a good early spell. Barcelona fought back and eventually equalized in the seventieth minute through Alexis Sanchez. Just three minutes later, however, Cristiano Ronaldo latched onto a superb Mesut Ozil through ball before scoring past Victor Valdes.
Real held on to the lead which saw them go seven points clear and eventually win the league title. Ronaldo's Calma celebration on the night, following his winner, gained notoriety of its own as the Portuguese star single-handedly silenced the Barcelona faithful, both literally and figuratively.
