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Sami Khedira has hailed Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side as the best football team he has ever seen.
The former Real Madrid midfielder clashed with the all-conquering Camp Nou team on several occasions. Barcelona won 14 of the 19 trophies on offer between 2008 and 2012 under Guardiola.
Hailing that side as the best football team he has ever seen, Khedira said:
“Even as a madridista, I can say that this team (Pep Guardiola's FC Barcelona), in 2010, is perhaps the best team I've ever seen. Of course I played in an amazing team, but this team (was brilliant)”.
The German midfielder also praised the Blaugrana's former midfield trio of Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, saying:
“The best opponents I had were Xavi and Iniesta. Unfortunately, they never won the Ballon d'Or. And so did Busquets. These 3 players never lost the ball”.
How did Real Madrid fare against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona?
In the first heavyweight clash between Guardiola's Barcelona and Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, the Blaugrana smashed the Galacticos 5-0. However, Mourinho quickly learned from his mistake, and made the required tactical changes, making for a fascinating rivalry.
Reminiscing the strategy used, Khedira said:
“You can't take the ball from them if they receive it, so you have to find solutions. We had to anticipate. If they passed the ball, you had to read the game and then steal the ball."
He added:
"And if you took the ball away from them like that, they weren't organised, because Dani Alves or Abidal were attackers. If we took the ball from them, we would attack immediately. And so we did. We played about 10-12 Clásicos, and we only lost two. In the others we tied or won. That was our tactic. You couldn't take the ball directly from them, only with a foul."
Madrid and the Blaugrana have gone in different directions since that epic rivalry with Guardiola's team ended in 2012.
Barcelona continued their domestic domination while Real Madrid became the most fearsome team in Europe. However, the Blaugrana have suffered a massive downturn in fortunes since the turn of the decade, and are now no longer a dominant team in Spain.
The Merengues are looking good to win their second La Liga title in three years and are also alive in the Champions League (Round of 16 against PSG). Meanwhile, the Blaugrana's only realistic hope of silverware this season is the Europa League, where they've reached the Round of 16 (against Galatasaray) .
