FCBARCELONA.CAT

Four titles and 99 points

After their treble winning 2008/09 season, Barca followed up this year by lifting four more titles –the Spanish League and Super Cup, the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup. They also took a record 99 points in La Liga.

Josep Guardiola’s second year in charge saw a continuation of the success he’d enjoyed in his opening campaign with the team. After kicking off the pre-season in the Wembley Cup and enjoying a three game tour of the United States, Barca took their first two titles in August: seeing off Atletico Bilbao 5-1 on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup and then beating Shaktar Donetsk 1-0 to take the European version. That great start proved to be a good omen for another fantastic season.

Good start

Barca won their first six games to take a maximum 18 points at the beginning of the season and also made a good start in the Champions League, drawing 0-0 away to Inter Milan and beating Dynamo Kiev in the first two games of what proved to be a very tough group.

Bouncing back from defeat

October saw the first defeat of the year, when Rubin Kazan won 1-2 at the Nou Camp. A goalless draw in Kiev then sounded alarm bells, as the route to the knock out stage began get complicated. In La Liga, the team were held to draws in Pamplona and Bilbao, allowing Madrid to keep up the pressure behind them. At the end of November, Guardiola’s men faced a key week, with games against Inter and Real Madrid and they came out smelling of roses after beating the Italians 2-0 and Pellegrini’s Madrid by a single Ibra goal ( 1-0 ) to take the top spot in both Europe and Spain.

First ever World Club Cup

Four straight wins ahead of the trip to Abu Dhabi for the World Club Cup in December gave the fans plenty to be optimistic and their team didn’t let them down, conquering the title for the first time in the club’s history by beating the Mexican team Atlante 3-1 in the semis and overcoming the Argentineans Estudiantes 2-1 in the final thanks to a chested goal in extra time from Messi. 2009 couldn’t have been bettered – six titles out of six!

Cup exit

The return from the Christmas break saw the team held 1-1 at the Nou Camp by Villarreal and then get knocked out of the Cup by the eventual winners, Seville ( 1-2 and 0-1 ), despite dominating the tie and totally swamping the Seville goal in the return leg. In spite of Real Madrid’s winning run, Barca stayed on top in the league though they did lose their only game in the competition all season - a 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid, who were themselves to go on and conquer the Europa League.

Victory in Madrid, defeat in Europe

That defeat in Madrid proved a turning point as the team put together another great unbeaten run. With Real Madrid somehow keeping up with the cracking pace Guardiola’s team were setting, the decider looked likely to be the visit to the Bernabeu in March, with just seven games left to play. Once again, Barca silenced the Madrid crowd and ran out 0-2 winners – a victory that was to prove decisive as it gave them a three point lead, plus a better goal difference at the top.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out quite as well in Europe, where after thrashing Arsenal 4-1 in the second leg of the quarter finals, they faced Inter in the semis. For the first leg the team were forced to travel to Milan by coach because of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud and they suffered a harsh 3-1 beating. It was all set for a dramatic comeback at the Nou Camp to take them through to the much sought after final in Madrid, but Mourinho’s men defended expertly and despite a late Pique goal ( 1-0 ), Barca were just edged out.

Sprint to the line

After the Inter defeat, Guardiola and his team showed real character to bounce back and put together a five game winning streak in the league – including a 1-4 win at Villarreal and a 2-3 win over Seville – was rounded off by a home win against Valladolid ( 4-0 ) to take the title with a massive 99 points. A record number for another Dream Team!