Which Was The Best Barcelona Team Of All Time?

We have had this discussion before but at that time the 2010-11 season was somewhere mid-way. Therefore it was difficult to draw firm conclusions. Besides we only had a discussion and no poll.

Now I am starting a poll but rather than limit it to just these two, I am adding three other options. Two of these correspond to the two other UCL winning seasons while the third is open ended.

I am keen to see that after a considerable number of Barca fans have voted, what the resultant tally looks like.

I wasnt around in 92 so therefore I cannot comment. Dinho era and especially that 05-06 season was simply mouthwatering in terms of watching world skills and tricks from some of the greats such as Dinho. However the passing game really went to another level in 10-11. Simply stunning football from Messi, Xaviniesta as well as Villa, Pique and Alves.

tie between 5-6 and 8-9

The Sanchez wrote:I wasnt around in 92 so therefore I cannot comment. Dinho era and especially that 05-06 season was simply mouthwatering in terms of watching world skills and tricks from some of the greats such as Dinho. However the passing game really went to another level in 10-11. Simply stunning football from Messi, Xaviniesta as well as Villa, Pique and Alves.

The sanchez sums it up well

For me it's between 08-09 and 10-11. And I choose 10-11.

When talking about the attacking trident, I'd say that the 08-09 team had 3 players of different capabilities. Each offering different magic of his own. In this regard, the 10-11 trident was a bit more formulaic, with Messi dropping deep and the 2 wing forwards making runs in behind the defense. Though I sorely missed watching Henry and Eto'o, Messi's false 9 role is too mesmeric to pass up. On quality I might still give the former an edge but it's very close.

The midfield is one area which definitely improved over the years. While Xavi's level may have not increased as much, Iniesta came from being a player who needed to prove himself to a warranted superstar. Moreover the overall Xaviesta+Busi and even their cohesion with the trident up front was IMO better than 08-09. Furthermore, Busi's intelligence worked better for us than Yaya's physicality. If not in terms of performances than definitely in terms of adhering to tiki-taka philosophy.

Unlike in 08-09 the defense in 10-11 had to cope with all sorts of tactics from opposition teams, such as playing under high pressure. Valdes too evolved as a sweeper keeper. One could say though that Marquez > Masche but when talking of the starting XI alone, IMO 10-11 defense was better.

I would also like to add that performances like the CL semi at Bernabeu are seldom seen and such a wall had never been faced before by the 08-09 team. Even when we faced Chelsea, their attack was not comprised of the likes of Ronaldo, Di Maria, Oezil etc.

From a fan point of view though I'm slightly on the edge. It kind of depends on the story you like being played out: Unknown quantity taking the world by storm (08-09) or royalty claiming what is rightfully theirs (10-11). In different moods I prefer different ones so I can't really decide. I have to say though that I felt more attached to the Henry & Eto'o rather than Pedro and Villa so my sentiments do go to the 08-09 side more often.

On quality though I rate 10-11 higher.

Thanks for the comments and the votes friends. I had already voted but I quickly share my thoughts.

Like most of you I think it's very close between 08-09 and 10-11. In most aspects I think the pros and cons of either team sort of balance out but I voted for 08-09 mainly because the attack was more lethal and we used to score boatloads of goals for fun. The dominance was such that as a norm we would be leading by at least three goals at half time and would often sleepwalk the second half. One very strong point in favor of 10-11 though is that teams were that much better prepared to face us. That makes it incredibly tight but I still give 08-09 a very slight edge.

We werent that convincing against Chelsea though compared to Madrid in 10-11in the semi finals of the CL.

10-11 for me has been the pinnacle of Barcelona as a team.

It comes down to a comparison between 08/09 and 10/11. The differences are smaller given that we had the same core players and system, so there's not that much difference. Anyways, In 08/09 we played more attractive football and won more. 10/11 won less but arguably harder titles as we had to compete against Mourinho's Madrid on all three fronts, which was a significant upgrade over the 08/09 Madrid team, I give the titles won in 10/11 more weight due to this reason. The 5-0 was again arguably a more dominating performance than the 6-2. On a player per player basis we had a better team in 10/11 on account of Messi improving drastically and playing a central role, not much of a difference elsewhere. As far as play, while 08/09 played more attractively this was due to tactical naivety against us. Our style didn't change, the opposing one did. On account of this, the titles obtained later also obtain more weight because the tactical naivety was no longer there.

Anyways, it's close as they're the two best years of our best cycle yet, but 10/11 has the edge.

10/11 for me. Yes, we didn't win the sextuple with that team, but we won the quintuple in a much splendid fashion and the CL final, Real Madrid beating in the semifinals, and Santos beating in the World Cup final were a joy to watch.

Billygr, mentioning 2005/06 was a good joke.

1999's team was definitely not even amongst the best Barcelona teams but watching Rivaldo and Figo that season was one of the best footballing experiences I've had at Camp Nou. Simply unforgettable.

Ronnie's era was fantastic to watch and so was Barcelona's first season under Guardiola.

the season we had Ronaldo, how did we line up and what was our bench?