28.08.2009 23:44
David Saura
The legend of Pep Guardiola at Barça is greater than ever after they have won their fifth title of 2009. At the same time, it brings back memories of 1951/52, when another wonderful FC Barcelona side brought home five trophies.
If Kubala, Gonzalvo III, César, Martín or Segarra could have seen tonight’s game , they
would have been proud of this Barça side. In the same way that Ramallets, Biosca and Basora have
done in their later years. All of them were members of the great Barça of the Five Cups, which 57
years ago and managed by Fernando Daucik, won the League, the Cup, the Fairs Cup, the Copa Eva
Duarte (equivalent to the modern day Spanish Super Cup) and the Martini&Rossi. That amazing
generation of footballers, immortalised in a Joan Manel Serrat song that honoured the Barça magic,
have now passed the baton on to Pep Guardiola and his side.
2009
simply has to be the best year in the club’s history. And only the 1951/52 campaign is in any
way comparable. True, this modern incarnation of the Barça of the Five Cups achieved their aim in
two different seasons (2008/09 and 2009/10), but nobody can argue that what Guardiola is doing now
is a mere continuation of the good work he did last year. In fact, of the players on show at the
Louis II tonight, only Ibrahimovic was not in the squad last season.
From Valencia to Monaco
After an unforgettable month of May, FC Barcelona have won a
further two titles, with a playing style that the world can only marvel at. Since May 13, with the
win in Valencia that opened the path towards the treble, until August 28 in Monaco, 108 days have
passed that have seemed like a never-ending orgy of delight.
First ever treble plus Super Cups
In Rome, Barça became the fifth team to win the European
Cup plus their two domestic titles, an achievement only previously managed by Celtic (1967), Ajax
(1972), PSV Eindhoven (1988) and Manchester United (1999). But now they have gone even further
still. For none of the four aforementioned clubs also managed to win the two Super Cups, as Barça
have done in the space of just five days, winning the Spanish and European versions.
And as if that wasn’t enough, it’s not long before Barça will be having a crack
at the World Clubs Cup. That’s a trophy Barcelona have never won, but then again, until 2009,
they had never won a the treble either...
With tonight’s win, FC Barcelona are now second in the all-time European Super Cup winners list. Only AC Milan, with five titles, can boast a batter record, while Barcelona are now tied with both Liverpool.