Written by: Dip Rajbahak - 2022008, Grade X
Posted on: 09 March, 2021
On Dec 19, 2009, FC Barcelona made history when lifting the World Club Cup in Abu Dhabi and completing the sextuple under Pep Guardiola. The sextuple simply means winning six trophies in a single-season. In 2009 Barcelona humiliated Madrid by 2_6 in El Clasico and they were the La Liga champions too. They won 27 out of 38 matches even though they were at the top of the table standings. Lionel Messi alongside Xavi and Andres Iniesta in the ‘Tiki-taka’ style of play that saw the Blaugrana romp to the title by a nine-point lead.
In Copa del Rey Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao were in the final which was played at the Mestalla in Valencia. Barcelona was 1 null already in the eight-minute but suddenly after 30 minutes of play athletic comeback. In the second half, Barcelona came back again just in 10 minutes they scored 3 goals and didn’t give oppositions a lead and they sealed a 4-1 victory against Athletic Bilbao.
In the Champions League Barcelona was playing against the defending champions Manchester United. Samuel Eto’o bagged the 10th-minute opener while Argentine legend scored the second and final goal in the 70th minute through a header and bagged the trophy for Barcelona. And Xavi was awarded as the UEFA man of the match while Lionel Messi was awarded Fans, a man of the match. Meeting their UCL group foes from the previous season in Monaco, Barcelona labored to a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. And Barcelona claimed European Super Cup. Defeating Athletic Bilbao 1_2 in San Mame’s where Xavi and Pedro both scored goals after trailing at the interval, Barcelona left little to the imagination when defeating them 3_0 at the Camp Nou by way of a Messi brace a week later and Barcelona grabbed Spanish Super cup.
Manchester United were the defending champions, but could not defend their title after losing the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. The final was played on 19 December 2009 and was won by European champions Barcelona, who came from behind to defeat the South American entrants, Estudiantes, 2–1 after extra time. Mauro Boselli put Estudiantes ahead in the 37th minute, but Pedro equalized with one minute left in normal time before Lionel Messi scored the winning goal five minutes into the second half of extra time. And Lionel Messi was awarded the golden ball Juan Sebastián Verón was awarded the silver ball and last but not least Xavi was awarded the bronze ball respectively.
