With Messi unfit in the first match and absent in the second, Barca had been picked apart by a more modern brand of football and the defender believed they needed to adapt their celebrated system. "Perhaps we need to make some kind of decision." "It's a huge blow," Gerard Pique said afterwards as he hinted in a possible change of direction in terms of style. Barca won the 2012-13 title with a record 100 points, but Tito took time out for cancer treatment and the team lacked leadership later in the campaign, which ended in chaos with a 7-0 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich. That change continued under Tito Vilanova, although the philosophy was basically the same. In it, Barca became a little more direct and the signing of Alexis Sanchez - along with the introduction of wingers Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello - meant Barca could attack from deep with pace. It was football at its most sublime."īut rival teams were setting up to defend in numbers and Barca were frustrated at times during Guardiola's final season at the club in 2011-12. "We had the ball all the time and when we lost it, we won it back instantly. "What football, what dominance!" Xavi later recalled. Key to Barca's success in that time was not only passing, however, but a pressing plan which saw the Blaugrana regaining the ball almost as soon as they had lost it. That meant Villa was forced to operate from a somewhat unfamiliar role out on the left in 2010-11, but it worked wonderfully as Barca won La Liga and the Champions Legue again, missing out on another treble by one game as they lost to Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. "There were many days when I thought he was one of the best we had, but that it was hard for him to get on the ball when he was out on the wing. "For me, the best players have to play in the centre," Pep later explained. The Argentine had masterminded the Catalans' 6-2 win at Real Madrid in 2009 by switching positions with Eto'o and moving inside as Guardiola noticed a huge space between the rivals' defence and midfield. But the biggest difference of all saw Messi move to a central role. Eto'o departed, then Henry, while Pedro emerged, Zlatan Ibrahimovic came in for a season and later David Villa as well. There were changes in personnel after that, although the style remained largely the same. In midfield, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were at the heart of a possession ploy (along with Sergio Busquets in his first season with the senior team) which saw Barca regularly keep the ball for up to 70 per cent of the time, or even more, and create chances aplenty for a fantastic forward line made up of Thierry Henry (who started on the left), Samuel Eto'o (the central striker) and Lionel Messi (on the right). On the right, meanwhile, new signing Dani Alves was given freedom to roam forward almost as an unorthodox winger. Ahead of him, Carles Puyol was the defensive lynchpin, with either Gerard Pique or Rafa Marquez alongside him to bring the ball out from the back. Victor Valdes played in goal but notably further forward than under predecessor Frank Rijkaard, operating as a modern sweeper-keeper to support his defence and their high line. They never looked back, going on to claim league, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles in that first season. At Sporting Gijon in their third Primera Division match, the Catalans won 6-1. "Because we are going for a ride."īarca began the Guardiola era slowly in La Liga with a 1-0 loss at Numancia and 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander, but then everything clicked. "Fasten your seat belts," the former club captain had told the media at his unveiling as Barca boss. The rival was always respected and studied meticulously during Pep's reign - and then brutally beaten more often than not. "It seems as if we are discrediting our opponents." "I don't like that expression," Guardiola growled at a journalist when asked about Tiki Taka at the height of Barca's brilliance. The Catalan coach led Barcelona to 14 out of a possible 19 titles between 20 with a football philosophy that defined an era and also sewed the seeds for their success under Luis Enrique - even though the style is very different these days. Pep Guardiola never liked the term Tiki Taka.