Amidst the conversation for some of the greatest football teams of all time, Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona makes one of the best arguments there can be.
The 2008-09 treble-winning squad boasted of a starting eleven feared by teams across the continent of Europe, as they went on to win the UEFA Champions League in incredible fashion – defeating defending champions Manchester United in the final.
In an unexpected turn of events, the legendary starting eleven of Guardiola’s dominant side have recently been compared to the current Manchester United starting line-up – and it is safe to say that the football fraternity did not take too lightly to it.
A TikTok user pitted the current Manchester United starting eleven against Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona side, and the results did not read too well for the Catalan side.
As the players of both starting elevens were compared head to head, only three Barcelona players were adjudged to be better than their United counterparts – the trio consisting of Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets and none other than Leo Messi.
David de Gea was adjudged to be better than Victor Valdes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was chosen over Dani Alves and Harry Maguire got the better of Gerard Pique at centre back – while Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba were adjudged to be better than Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Luke Shaw was chosen ahead of Eric Abidal, Marcus Rashford got the nod over Pedro Rodriguez, while Edinson Cavani made the cut ahead of David Villa.
The comparison enraged quite a part of the football fraternity on Twitter, as they slammed the TikTok user for making one of the most out-of-sorts arguments heard in recent memory.
When compared against each other in terms of trophies won, the Barcelona side completed the sextuple – a collection of the six major honours that can be won in a season, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United side have not won any trophy yet this season.
Even though they are still in the hunt to clinch the FA Cup and the Europa League, it is safe to say that they do not have a lot to boast over their Catalan counterparts – unlike the under-fire TikTok user’s arguments that went viral overnight.
