2009 was a historic year for FC Barcelona. The club earned the first treble in Spanish football history by winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League. Later in 2009, Barça went on to secure an unprecedented sextuple with Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup wins.
That year, Barcelona had an absolutely stacked roster, including Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, legendary Frenchman Thierry Henry, dynamic striker Samuel Eto’o, iconic midfielders Andres Iniesta, Xavi, and Yaya Toure, and stalwart Barca defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol.
Barcelona pulled off arguably the most outstanding achievement in club football by capturing six titles in the same campaign.
Pep’s Team
The moniker is self-explanatory. After taking over the reins at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola became the 15th Catalan manager in the club’s history. Pep took over as first-team manager in June 2008, after achieving success as a member of Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team” and then as the coach of Barca B.
Pep was tasked with bringing an end to FC Barcelona’s two-year trophy drought. That is unacceptable for a club of Barca’s stature. Guardiola not only lived up to his promise of making the fans proud, but he also became the club’s most successful manager, winning 14 titles in four seasons.
Barcelona became a juggernaut under Guardiola, who ruled Spain and Europe. Pep transformed Barca’s approach to play in his first season in command, winning the fabled Sextuple in the process. Guardiola’s team became renowned as the ‘Perfect Machine’ after successfully implementing the ‘Juego de Posición’ (Positional Play) concept.
Carles Puyol: The Leader
The captain of Barcelona’s sextuple-winning team. Puyol was an ever-present under Guardiola, and his defence-first approach proved the backbone of his side’s success, allowing Lionel Messi and Co to produce the magic up the other end of the pitch.
Puyol was Barcelona’s figurehead, and how they could do with someone like the Spaniard right now leading the way during these turbulent times.
Pep’s Challenge
In 2021, Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich matched the Man City manager’s legendary Barca team when they won their sixth straight trophy with the Club World Cup.
Pep Guardiola has challenged Hansi Flick and Bayern Munich to a ‘battle of the sextuples’ after the Bundesliga giants matched his Barcelona team’s achievement with a sixth straight trophy.
Bayern beat Tigres to win the Club World Cup on Thursday, adding to their Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Super Cup and DFL-Supercup titles over the last year.
They became only the second side ever to win the Sextuple, matching Guardiola’s legendary 2009 Barcelona team.
In a video message on Twitter, Guardiola said: “Big congratulations to all the Bayern family for this incredible success, to be the Club World Cup champions and especially to win six titles.
“We are so proud. I am so proud. A big congratulations for everyone, especially Hansi, the players and the backroom staff for this amazing thing.
“But I would like to say to Hansi that you are the second team to win the six titles in a row!
“Before you, there was another team, Barcelona… so maybe I can call Messi and company and we can play for the seventh title? Tell me when and where and we will be there!”
