FC Barcelona have won their 21st league title, and it’s now three-out-of-three for manager Josep Guardiola, who has produced a winning style that has amazed the footballing world.
It is two decades since a Barça team was born that featured a young
Josep Guardiola in midfield, and which astounded the world with its vibrant
attacking style. That Dream Team won four consecutive leagues, but also created a new blend of
football that has now become the Camp Nou trademark. It’s a new way of understanding
football, which involves
possession, combination plays and a focus on attacking rather than defending. The
football that has now become the
FC Barcelona identity.
Twenty years on, and Guardiola is continuing his work in the role of manager, and the club is
once again flying high at the top of world football. In just three years he has won as many league
titles, and nine major honours in total. As he never tires of telling us in his press conferences,
the only thing that ultimately needs to matter in football is
“attack, attack and attack.”
Second three-season streak
Only
Johan Cruyff’s Barça can claim to have won three titles in a row, which
eventually became four, so there is no arguing that what
Guardiola and his players have done is quite some achievement. And he is to be
merited even more for managing to do that in his first three seasons in charge. Cruyff didn’t
get his hands on the league trophy until his third year at the club.
Rijkaard’s legacy
Several coaches worked at the club between Guardiola’s time as a player and
his return as manager (
Robson, Van Gaal, Serra Ferrer, Rexach, Antic and Rijkaard), but the one who
played the greatest role in returning the Barça style to its former glory was
Frank Rijkaard, who won two leagues and one Champions League and spread the gospel
of constant pressure inside the opposition’s half.
Guardiola picked up where he left off and perfected the project, turning the team
into a veritable goal machine (this season they have almost made it to 150) and also bagging title
after title. The third league in a row is just the latest in a series of astonishing achievements.