How did the City 2023 squad enter a comparison with Guardiola’s Barcelona?

Pep Guardiola became the first coach in Europe to win a hat-trick of titles as Manchester City completed a stunning season by claiming their maiden UEFA Champions League title by defeating Inter Milan 1-0 courtesy of midfielder Rodri’s goal in the final in Istanbul.

This achievement is a well-deserved reward for arguably one of the most dominant European sides of all time, drawing immediate comparison with the Barcelona squad of 2008-09 that remains fresh in football fans’ memories.

In addition to winning the previous Barcelona squad in the Spanish League, the King’s Cup and the European Champions League, it also won the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Here is how the City squad in the 2022-2023 season managed to enter a comparison with Barcelona’s historic squad in the 2008-2009 season.

Team strength: Guardiola’s 2008-09 team featured some of the best players of their generation, including defense duo Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, and midfielders Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, and were among the main reasons Spain won the World Cup a year later. One.

The Brazilian full-back, Dani Alves, was virtually unstoppable as he played an influential attacking role as well as making many goals for one of the best attacking lines in the history of the game, which included Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry.

City have arguably the greatest depth of all-field squad in the history of European football, brimming with creative talent.

Players such as striker Julian Alvarez, who was instrumental in Argentina’s World Cup triumph in Qatar, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez, are struggling to secure a place in the starting line-up and it is arguably easier for them to play regularly in other top-level European teams.

And it seems that the fierce Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, who joined this season, was the missing piece to transform Guardiola’s squad into a terrifying team.

The 22-year-old striker surpassed the record set by Mohamed Salah, with 32 goals in one Premier League season consisting of 38 matches, and also surpassed Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, both of whom managed to score 34 goals when the tournament was played from 42 rounds. In the nineties.

Style of play: Guardiola’s famous possession-driven Barcelona stunned opponents and the rest of the football world with their short, quick passing, clever movement and tiki-taka exchanges.

This method was perhaps one of the greatest tactical revolutions that also helped Spain dominate world football for several years when it won the European Championship twice, including the World Cup title.

At Manchester City, Guardiola provided an evolution of what he describes as “total football”, creating a fluid system in which almost no player remains in a fixed role and complementing that with ferocious pressing that has no mercy on any opponent.

Last year, City won the Premier League title without a player in the position of an outright striker, but after the arrival of Haaland, the team has a huge attacking force that allows it to play in a more direct way.

Championships: Barcelona won the La Liga title in the 2008-2009 season with 87 points, nine points more than Real Madrid, scored 105 goals and finished the season without losing in 22 consecutive games.

Messi, Eto’o and Henry scored a total of 100 goals in all competitions, the Argentine star alone scored 38 goals while Eto’o won La Liga’s top scorer award with 30 goals.

They beat Manchester United, who was led by Cristiano Ronaldo, in the Champions League final, 2-0, with goals from Eto’o and Messi.

And before the Champions League final, on Saturday, Guardiola won his fifth Premier League title, becoming City the second team to win the title in three consecutive seasons, and the fifth in the history of English football.

They will be looking to become the first team ever to win the Premier League four times in a row next season.

City beat United 2-1 in the FA Cup final, becoming the second English team to complete the treble.