Richard Sutcliffe: Guardiola’s men not yet ready to be ranked with the greats

Manchester United and Barcelona have been the dominant powers on the continent for several years, as a collective trophy haul of 27 since the turn of the Millennium vividly illustrates. United’s honours during that time include seven Premier League titles and one Champions League, while the Catalan giants have bagged five La Liga titles and two Champions League triumphs. Such an impressive haul says all you need to know about how both clubs have been the standard bearers in Europe for the last decade or so. Ditto their own domestic leagues, which were won so comfortably that neither United nor Barcelona were passed by any of their rivals from November onwards. For all the duo’s dominance, however, only one of tomorrow’s two finalists is rightly mentioned when discussion turns to the greatest club sides of all time. Barcelona, via their intricate passing game and pressing of opponents, have taken football forward to such an extent that many commentators have run out of superlatives to describe Pep Guardiola’s men. The Catalan side are a joy to watch, even allowing for the histrionics of their dreadful semi-final grudge match with Real Madrid. However, whether this Barcelona team is, as has been suggested in several quarters this week, quite ready to be crowned the ‘greatest of all time’ just yet, I am not so sure. As pleasing as they are on the eye, Guardiola’s side have won just one Champions League. And even that 2009 triumph was tainted by how Chelsea were “cheated” (copyright Didier Drogba) out of a place in the final at Barcelona’s expense by a truly shocking refereeing performance in the second leg at Stamford Bridge. Just how Tom Henning Ovrebo missed three blatant penalties for the Blues before Andres Iniesta netted a ‘93rd-minute’ goal that put the Spanish side through is a mystery only the Norwegian referee can answer. Barcelona did go on to show their true quality in Rome to comfortably dispose of United but, even so, one tainted Champions League success does not make them football immortals. Another triumph tomorrow would, of course, help in that quest, though even then the current crop of Barcelona players would have some way to go to equal some of the illustrious sides of the past. Real Madrid set the bar with those five straight European Cup wins of 1956-60. But there have been plenty of other teams who warrant inclusion in any list of past greats, including the Bernabeu’s own Galacticos, who lifted the Champions League three times in five years around the turn of the Millennium. Bayern Munich’s hat-trick of consecutive titles that followed Ajax’s own three straight wins of 1971, 1972 and 1973 mean both also deserve their place along with the Liverpool side that dominated Europe under Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan. The AC Milan of Gullit, van Basten and Rijkaard also deserve special mention, not least as they turned the Italian city into the capital of European football as the Eighties gave way to the Nineties. Barcelona may enjoy that mantle today thanks to the beauty of Messi, Iniesta et al. But, as to whether this side is destined to become one of the game’s true greats, we will have a lot better idea by the end of tomorrow night.