FC Barcelona

Paul Breitner quotes even today that his German team during 1972-1974 was the best team ever to play the game. Diego Maradonna is often heard bragging about the Argentine team that won the 1986 world cup. Brazil’s 1970 world cup squad is regarded as the best on many occasions. As far as clubs are concerned Real Madrid’s 1999-2000 lineup was most impressive. Every team mentioned above specialized in some sort of game that earned them the name.

Brazil’s attacking football, Germany’s mid-field domination or Argentina’s possessive play, each of them has a unique strength that makes them contenders for being the best team ever.

But, the team that we are witnessing today belongs to a completely different league – even above the world champions. Yes, we are talking about Barcelona – the Catalan giants. This has been a team that has not spent a penny to create its foundation – the base of this team constitutes of players who have been bred in their own youth academy. Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta, Carles Puyol etc have been trained to become what they are today.

Very few questions are raised when Barcelona is considered as the world’s best ever team. Their possessive play is better than any other team as the accuracy in rotating the ball is almost perfect. It’s not only the tactics that make such a team; it’s the able players who implement these tactics that makes this team unstoppable. The likes of C. Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and Iker Cassillas couldn’t even challenge the splendid Barca play when the top two La Liga teams met in the El Classico.

Jose Mourinho’s face was sunk so deep in disarray that Josep Guardiola was feeling guilty about it. Clueless Real president Fiorentino Perez must have visited his office to check on the millions he spent on players who couldn’t play football when the Catalans stepped up. Mourinho- who was considered the best manager in Europe couldn’t find an answer when he suffered the worst defeat of his career; 5-0!

There is no one player that makes Barca unstoppable, its world class players with a master manager and a style of play that is able to break down any opponent. The teams which claimed that Barca is good only because of Messi were grounded miserably. Dedicated and hard-working Rubin Kazan who have never been defeated by Barcelona must have gained a lot of respect after the Catalans recent show at the Camp Nou. Ruthless Barca might be the best team that ever played football!

Tags: Andreas Iniesta, Argentina, Barca, Barcelona, Brazil, Carles Puyol, El Classico, Football, Germany, La Liga, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez