Dein erstes Forum » stack up against the current Barcelona side?

BARCELONA, Spain -- Pep Guardiola, the managerial mastermind who led Barcelona to 14 of 19 possible titles in four seasons, is returning to Camp Nou.This time he will be at the helm of Manchester City as he faces his boyhood club in the Champions League on Wednesday.But how does the best of the teams Guardiola coached from 2008-2012 stack up against the current Barcelona side?Here is a comparison of Barcelonas current players with those led by Guardiola in 2008-09, the team that started the clubs winning era by becoming the first Spanish club to win the Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey in the same season.Barcelona repeated that rare feat of winning the treble of titles two seasons ago under present coach Luis Enrique.---FORWARDSMessi/Etoo/Henry (2008-09) vs. Messi/Suarez/Neymar (now)A budding star at 21 years old, Lionel Messi fully blossomed under Guardiola.The Argentina star won his first of a record five Ballon dOr awards in 2009, after having scored important goals such as his double in a historic 6-2 win at Real Madrid and the second goal in a 2-0 win to beat Manchester United in the Champions League final.Guardiola got one more superb season from striker Samuel Etoo, and squeezed out some of the last vintage goals that Thierry Henry had to offer.Hard to top that, right?Just look at Messis present partners in attack.With Messi moving away from a pure scorer to becoming both scorer and playmaker, Luis Suarez and Neymar have proven to be perfect fits up front. Suarez is the voracious goal-taker that Messi needed to focus on orchestrating, while Neymars dribbling skills and speed are almost unstoppable. The trio broke scoring records in each of the last two seasons.ADVANTAGE: Luis Enriques current attack.---MIDFIELDXavi/Toure/Iniesta (2008-09) vs. Rakitic/Busquets/Iniesta (now)Both teams enjoy the devilry of Andres Iniesta, but the 2008-09 side had both Yaya Toure and an upstart Sergio Busquets sharing time in front of the defense, as opposed to the current teams reliance on Busquets as a holding midfielder.The major difference, however, is the downgrade from Xavi Hernandez to Ivan Rakitic.Rakitic is more athletic and a better tackler than Xavi, but that cannot trump Xavis vision, poise and control of the match. The World Cup winner was Guardiolas on-pitch general of a possession-based passing attack that bewildered opponents.In other words, its a no-brainer.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 midfield.---DEFENSEDani Alves/Puyol/Pique/Abidal (2008-09) vs. Roberto/Pique/Mascherano/Alba (now)Always at the service of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelonas defense under Guardiola was easy to overlook.But that 2008-09 team enjoyed Dani Alves and Eric Adibal in their prime, a fully fit Carles Puyol before he was diminished by injuries, and a Gerard Pique hungry to come into his own.Pique now anchors a back line that is under transition.Jordi Alba offers blistering pace on the left flank, but its other two positions are in flux.Sergi Roberto, a converted midfielder, has impressed as Dani Alves replacement so far, while the other central defender position is in dispute between an aging Javier Mascherano and newcomer Samuel Umtiti.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 defense.---GOALKEEPER: Valdes (2008-09) vs. Ter Stegen (now)Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has just inherited the full-time goalkeeping responsibilities from Claudio Bravo. Despite his passing skills and ability to make spectacular saves, the German needs to improve his decision making to reach the level of Victor Valdes from 2008-09.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 goalkeeper.---CONCLUSION:Even though this Barcelona side should be favored over City, it has a way to go to equal the overall excellence of Guardiolas first Barcelona squad. Wholesale Nike Air Max Shoes .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Cheap Air Max Authentic . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. http://www.wholesaleairmaxauthentic.us/ . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Wholesale Air Max Authentic . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Cheap Air Max Online Sale . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.BERLIN -- Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., won the silver medal and broke the Canadian short course record in the womens 100-metre butterfly on Saturday to open the second stop on the FINA World Cup swimming circuit. Canada also added a silver and bronze in the 4x50-metre mixed medley relay. In the womens 100 butterfly, Jeannette Ottesen Gray of Denmark was the winner in 55.94 seconds. Savard followed in 56.35 to eclipse the previous national mark of 56.49 she swam this past Wednesday in the Netherlands. Ellen Gandy of Australia was third in 56.56. "Im very pleased," said Savard. "This is my sixth Canadian record this year so Im having a very good season." In the 4x50 mixed medley relay, Australia was first in 1:40.95 followed by Canada with Russell Wood of Calgary, Martha McCabe of Toronto, Coleman Allen of Vancouverr and Sandrine Mainville of Montreal in 1:42.dddddddddddd00. A second Canadian foursome of Hilary Caldwell of White Rock, B.C., Chris Manning of Brantford, Ont., Savard and Luke Peddie of Edmonton was third. Chantal van Landeghem of Winnipeg was fourth in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 50 backstroke. She broke the Canadian record in the 50 backstroke clocking 27.01 which bettered the 27.06 set by Jennifer Carroll of Montreal in 2009. Van Landeghem lowered the 50-freestyle mark Wednesday. Caldwell was also fifth in the 200 backstroke and McCabe sixth in the 200 breaststroke. For the men, Alec Page of Victoria was fourth in the 400 individual medley, Wood sixth in the 100 backstroke, Zack Chetrat of Oakville, Ont., and Allen seventh and eighth in the 200 butterfly and Ashton Baumann of Ottawa eighth in the 200 breaststroke. ' ' '