Funny how Barcelona 2014/15 wasn't the best Barcelona ever, but had the best UCL run

[Neymessi]

I don't think anyone can compare RM 16/17 with us 15, we were comfortably better.

People debating about CL 15 being tougher or easier saying PSG and Manc weren't meh so yeah they weren't exactly meh but they were money splashed with not much quality. Manc was a beast the year before that but that time they weren't nothing much. PSG was never special to begin with. People forget how good manu was back then when we defeated them twice in THAT fashion. Barca 2015 I can assure you wouldn't have been able to pull it off like that. We in 15 were just 3 special forwards. The midfield was nowhere near formidable. And even if you think we had the better performance in 15, that is just a misleading stat. Barca 09 and 11 were just so much better it's like everyone who thinks otherwise suffers from recency bias and has forgotten how good we were back then.

 

[El Gato]

Yet Arsenal in that 2-1 victory against Barcelona in 2011 looked like a top team, everyone played well above their standards, Wenger was awesome, he really elevated his players

Sometimes he did. And for sure he was better than what they had since though Arteta isn't too bad at all so far. Most times Wenger has underachieved and frustrated his own fans beyond belief.

 

[Richard.H]

09 Barca > 11 Barca.


11 Barca would get slaughtered by 09 Chelsea. The 11 team had no physical presence.

 

[El Gato]

I think 14/15 PSG is quite underrated. They took out Mourinho's Chelsea who went on to win the EPL that season. If they faced any other team besides us they would definitely make it to sf imo.

I keep saying this to people here, but not many are willing to consider how actually decent they've been pre-Neymar. Most of the time they've had really shit draws vs Jose's Chelsea, Barcelona under Tito (which they should have won) and then Lucho, having had no help in the form getting a favourable draw to boost confidence by getting semifinal experience prior to these tough games. Ibra has let them down a few times, but they've been closer to top without a mental block back then than when they were when breaking the market. Their development is the opposite of the Arsenal one when they had their Barcelona-Bayern period of whoopings, they stayed the same instead of regressing.

If they do get it right now by virtue of maturation and time then they should stay there for a while, possibly contending with Liverpool next season, whenever that may be. Sucks for them that COVID cuts their time with Mbappe to this extent

 

[matbezlima]

09 Barca > 11 Barca.


11 Barca would get slaughtered by 09 Chelsea. The 11 team had no physical presence.

And they didn't need it as much, because they danced circles around everyone with their fast and precise passing in tight spaces. They controlled games better, they pressed better, they knew how to truly shut down the opponents better and overall were clearly more confident in possession and playing from the back than 2009, they also had more possession and so on. Their game was more fluid and unstoppable, tiki-taka at its peak.

 

[Sailor Mars]

'11 Barca getting really underrated now. 2009 Barca looks better on paper because they also had more physical players like Toure, Puyol(still healthy), and guys like Eto' and Henry are more athletic compared to their 2011 counterparts. But, the 09 version did not play with the precision and control of the '11 team.

 

[Richard.H]

And they didn't need it as much, because they danced circles around everyone with their fast and precise passing in tight spaces. They controlled games better, they pressed better, they knew how to truly shut down the opponents better and overall were clearly more confident in possession and playing from the back than 2009, they also had more possession and so on. Their game was more fluid and unstoppable, tiki-taka at its peak.

2011 Champions League knockout opponents of Barca:
Round of 16: Arsenal
QF: Shakhtar Donetsk
SF: Real Madrid
F: Manchester United

2009 Champions League knockout opponents of Barca:
Round of 16: Lyon
QF: Bayern Munich
SF: Chelsea
F: Manchester United


I think the sides that 09 Barca faced in the CL were far stronger. 11 Manchester United was already on a decline. Yes, RM were really good that year but Pep had them figured out tactically all season and Messi was playing like a God in the Bernabeu.

09 Barca had a prime Chelsea to meet in the SF and a prime Man U with CR at arguably the biggest peak of his career. This was the CR that was not just a penalty box/goal scoring expert but a CR who had an excellent all around game. Bayern and Lyon were much stronger sides than Arsenal and Shakhtar, too.

 

[KingLeo10]

@Wolfe, excluding Barca and RM sides, who do you think was the best club side in the CL era?

You seem to have a pretty high opinion of 00s Milan (rightfully so), but I'm curious.

 

[El Gato]

@Wolfe, excluding Barca and RM sides, who do you think was the best club side in the CL era?

You seem to have a pretty high opinion of 00s Milan (rightfully so), but I'm curious.

Can't remember when European Cup got scrapped, 1993? And defining best is tricky.

I only watched Milan other than Madrid when I was younger and I'm too young to remember 10 years worth of CL football that took place before Zidane's prime, but presumably Sacchi's Milan was up there? Not sure on Juve. Their Lippi run was superb and marred by things I'm not too sure the players and coaching staff were aware of and to blame for. + no one really knows how long they'd stay at the top if Calciopoli didn't happen.

But beyond that I don't think anyone quite gets on the pedestal. I'd put United there too TBH, whatever little CL silverware SAF has to show for it.

 

[matbezlima]

2011 Champions League knockout opponents of Barca:
Round of 16: Arsenal
QF: Shakhtar Donetsk
SF: Real Madrid
F: Manchester United

2009 Champions League knockout opponents of Barca:
Round of 16: Lyon
QF: Bayern Munich
SF: Chelsea
F: Manchester United


I think the sides that 09 Barca faced in the CL were far stronger. 11 Manchester United was already on a decline. Yes, RM were really good that year but Pep had them figured out tactically all season and Messi was playing like a God in the Bernabeu.

09 Barca had a prime Chelsea to meet in the SF and a prime Man U with CR at arguably the biggest peak of his career. This was the CR that was not just a penalty box/goal scoring expert but a CR who had an excellent all around game. Bayern and Lyon were much stronger sides than Arsenal and Shakhtar, too.

Barcelona barely got through Chelsea. And I heavily disagree about 2009 Bayern and 2009 Lyon being much better than Arsenal 2011 and Shakhtar 2011. Bayern in 2009 was hammered by Wolfsburg and lost Bundesliga.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Do not really care if it was the best or not the best Barca, 2014/15 Barca has been the most enjoyable for me to watch. Sure it lasted only half a year or so, sure we did not field the best possible players in all positions and sure, it was not as dominant force as the Pep versions. But if I take all the positives - fast, enjoyable attacking football, fast movement, much more direct style and less playacting and above all, less sterile possession and possibly the greatest attacking trio in their prime combining between each other, I will always prefer that.

True. 2015 was amazing.

 

[HanDW]

We played better (by far) in 2011 but were more dominant in 2015. It's pretty clear to me.

The only tough match was the final, stomped City/PSG and because we should have steamrolled Bayern at the Camp Nou easily in 2015, the final score was very misleading. We wad 3 clear chances in the first 30-40 minutes or so (Suarez 1v1, Neymar alone in the box and Neuer amazing save vs Alves). It was only matched due to the poor finishing by our part. At the Allianz the tie was over before half-time.

 

[matbezlima]

To be honest we should have steamrolled Bayern at the Camp Nou easily in 2015, the final score was very misleading. We wad 3 clear chances in the first 30-40 minutes or so (Suarez 1v1, Neymar alone in the box and Neuer amazing save vs Alves). It was only matched due to the poor finishing by our part.

Bayern didn't have a shot on target

 

[DonAndres]

14/15 team and 08/09 team are more suited for 2020 type of football. It's no doubt that Pep's Barca broke the game with total football and tiki taka. It became much more common in the 2010's for EPL for example to import players from other leagues who had more versatility and technical ability.

However, in breaking the game they also created the 'park the bus' foil against them. If the other team just cedes possession and crowds their half then a game can turn into more of a 50/50 crapshoot where better finishing wins. And Barca's problem (especially later in that era, like 2013) was that they built up so slow and comfortable that they LET teams sit back on them. If you play slow, you let the defense reset.

That was the biggest bad habit that came alongside Pep's system. That's the reason that, particularly in away games, Barca have struggled visibly.

The 'meta' of the game in 2020 has adopted so many things from Pep's Barca, but with a twist of having pace and space. They didn't have the luxury of a Xavi or Iniesta or Messi to be ridiculously comfortable in confined space, so they couldn't "fall in love" with too much possession/control. That's why teams like Liverpool and 15-17 RM have shown extremely impressive technical 1 touch play and fluid offense, but they don't build up slowly so they don't let defenses reset.

They don't dominate over 90 minutes nearly as much as prime Barca but their games are always shootouts with high chance creation, whereas Barca on their bad days played very gridlocked especially in away games.

08/09 Barca and 14/15 Barca exist more in line with the meta of 2020 football and can't get completely stifled in away games against the likes of Atletico or Juve.

Any of 08/09, 10/11, or 14/15 Barca would beat Zidane's Madrid or Klopp's Liverpool head to head though in my opinion. These teams play too brave and want to lead the dance so they can't stifle those Barca teams and they sure as shit can't outplay them on the ball. Those Barca teams just had more talent AND more chemistry. But 08/09 Barca and 14/15 Barca would be more consistent in the modern CL than 10/11 Barca I feel.

 

[Andresito]

2010/11 is really underrated it seems like. The same arguments people are using now were used before that team exploded. "They lack physical players, they only play possession, how good can they be?". It didn't matter if it was one dimensional, that side were so good at what they did. To beat them you basically needed a 10/10 defensive performance, full concentration in 93 minutes from EVERYONE, a GK in monster form and an effective striker. Just like that Celtic game. And while 2015 side won more games in a season, it was very individualistic and thus in the long run more unreliable.

09 Barca had a prime Chelsea to meet in the SF and a prime Man U with CR at arguably the biggest peak of his career. This was the CR that was not just a penalty box/goal scoring expert but a CR who had an excellent all around game. Bayern and Lyon were much stronger sides than Arsenal and Shakhtar, too.

Take a look at Bayern's lineup in our 4-0 win in 2009:

Butt
Lell, Breno, Demichelis, Oddo
Schweini, van Bommel
Altintop, Ze Roberto, Ribery
Luca Toni

Their two subs in that game were Ottl and Sosa. Lol.