Moments in history

Moments in history

Pep Guardiola's Barça

From 2008 to 2012 the FC Barcelona's first team claimed a total of 14 trophies, including the treble and two Champions League titles

The best Barça in the Club's history was overseen by coach Josep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012. The Catalan coach from the town of Santpedor holds the record for most trophies won with 14 in his four years as FC Barcelona boss. During his time in charge Barça claimed two Champions League titles, three La Liga championships, two Copas del Rey, three Spanish Super Cups, two European Super Cups and two World Club Cups. In 2008/09 the team claimed an unprecedented treble of La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. 

Unbeatable first season (2008/09)

After a 2007/08 season that ended trophyless for Barça, the Club said goodbye to coach Frank Rijkaard and turned to former Barça player Pep Guardiola, who at the time was coach of the B team and had just taken them to promotion to the Second Division B. 

Guardiola's Barça kicked off the season with a new look squad and quickly assured themselves of a place in the Champions League group stage with a 4-1 aggregate win over Polish side Wisla Krakow in the preliminary round. 

However, their start to the new La Liga season was not quite so auspicious with Barça losing 1-0 at Numancia in their opening fixture and drawing 1-1 with Racing Santander in their second. 

Despite the poor start, Guardiola's team quickly began to take shape and the excellent football on show brought improved results. So much so that with a month of the season remaining, Barça were still in with a shout of winning an un precedented treble. 

The Copa del Rey was the first trophy to fall into Barça's hands that season. After a semi-final victory over Mallorca, the blaugranes faced Athletic Club de Bilbao in the final in Mestalla. The Basques took the lead thanks to an early goal from Gaizka Toquero but then strikes from Touré, Messi, Bojan Krkic and Xavi secured a comprehensive 4-1 win and the first silverware of the Guardiola era. 

Just days later trophy number two arrived. The famous 6-2 win in the Bernabéu against Real Madrid had placed Barça in pole position for the La Liga title and when their closest rivals lost away from home at Villarreal, a 19th league championship was theirs. 

The third trophy of the season came in the Champions League. After a memorable semi-final against Chelsea, decided by Iniesta's famous goal at Stamford Bridge, Barça defeated reigning champions Manchester United in the final 2-0 thanks to goals from Samuel Eto'o and Leo Messi, claiming the trophy for the third time in the Club's history. 

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So, the 2008/09 season ended with a historic treble for the blaugrana, the first La Liga side ever to achieve the feat. 

Six trophies 

Following a record breaking first season in charge, Pep Guardiola's team hit new heights in 2009, becoming the first team to win six trophies in a calendar year. 

First up in August came the Spanish Super Cup and a victory over Athletic Club de Bilbao. Goals from Xavi and Pedro helped the blaugranes to a 2-1 win in the first leg in San Mamés with a brace from Messi and a goal from Bojan completing a 3-0 win in the second leg at home. 

In Monaco in the UEFA Super Cup, a late goal in extra time from Pedro sealed a win over Shakhtar Donetsk to add a fifth trophy in 2009.

The year was rounded off with victory in the FIFA Club World Cup. A semi-final win over Mexican side Atlante was followed by another extra time victory, this time thanks to Messi's later goal to see off Argentinian club Estudiantes. 

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Later in the 2009/10 season Guardiola's team added a second consecutive league title to their collection, amassing a record 99 points to pip second placed Real Madrid by just three points. 

Victory eluded the team in the Copa del Rey, where they were knocked out by Sevilla in the last 16, and in the Champions League where they fell to eventual winners Internazionale of Milan in the semi-finals. 

Second Champions League title for Guardiola (2010/11)

In his third season in charge of the first team, the challenge for Pep Guardiola was clear: reclaim the Champions League title. Barça started the season well, winning the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla, overturning a 3-1 deficit from the first leg to win 4-0 at Camp Nou courtesy of a hat-trick from Leo Messi. 

After a promising start to their La Liga campaign, the first challenge of the domestic season arrived: a meeting with Real Madrid and their new coach Jose Mourinho, the man who had been in charge of Inter when they had eliminated Barça from the Champions League the previous season. The game was a real test for both sides and the blaugranes came out emphatically on top, winning 5-0 at Camp Nou, setting the tone for the rest of the campaign at the end of which FC Barcelona lifted their third La Liga title in a row. 

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Even greater glory was to come in the Champions League. Barça overcame Real Madrid once again in the semi-finals, the 3-1 aggregate win earning them a place in the final at Wembley Stadium against Manchester United. That day, Pep Guardiola's team produced one of the all time great performances in football history to beat Sir Alex Ferguson's side 3-1 with Eric Abidal lifting the trophy to complete his comeback after serious illness. 

The only disappointment of the 2010/11 campaign came in the Copa del Rey where a goal in extra-time from Cristiano Ronaldo handed Real Madrid victory in the final against Barça. 

Adéu, Pep (2011/12)

2011/12 marked Pep Guardiola's fourth and final season as Barça coach. After losing in the Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea, the blaugrana boss announced that he would be leaving at the end of the season. 

 

Back in August the season had began in spectacular fashion with a 5-4 aggregate victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup and a 2-0 win over Porto in the UEFA Super Cup. A 4-0 win over Brazilian club Santos in December in the FIFA Club World Cup meant that Guardiola's team ended the calendar year of 2011 having won five from a possible six titles. 

Defeat against Chelsea was followed by a runners-up spot to Real Madrid in the league with Pep Guardiola's final trophy as Barça boss coming in the Copa del Rey thanks to a 3-0 win over Athletic Club in the final. 

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Guardiola's final game in charge came at home on 5 May 2012 in a game against local rivals Espanyol. The fans came to say goodbye to the former Barça player who had won 14 of a possible 19 trophies during his time in charge of the first team and also set new standards with his team's style of play in the world of football. 

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