Barca edge Real in a season of all-out war

Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona confirmed their status as the world’s pre-eminent football force with a third straight title in 2010-11, obtained by a margin of four points over second-placed Real Madrid.

The Merengue boasted newly crowned Champions League winner Jose Mourinho on the bench, but the club’s third coach in as many seasons could not break Barca’s winning run.

Mourinho’s men did run the Catalans close over the course of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga’s top scorer with an impressive 40 strikes in his second campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu, meant that Madrid even managed to outscore their rivals in 2010-11. Barca’s all-round talent, however, pulled through, with the likes of Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta and Xavi reaching superlative levels of form – not to mention that year’s Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi.

CHANGES

With Guardiola’s Barca running rampant not just domestically but in Europe, Real Madrid pulled out a hail mary and recruited Mourinho from Inter to try and halt the Blaugrana monopoly. The ‘special one’ quickly used Madrid’s financial might to bring in Mesut Ozil, Sergio Canales, Angel Di Maria, Ricardo Carvalho, Sami Khedira and Pedro Leon. Legendary striker, Raul, meanwhile, left for the German Bundesliga with Schalke. Barca made some key acquisitions too, bringing in David Villa to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while Javier Mascherano would go on to patrol the defence and midfield for years to come. Real Sociedad, Hercules, and Levante gained promotion for the campaign the previous season.

SUMMARY

It was a slow start to the season nevertheless for Pep’s men, perhaps understandable after the exertions required to win Spain’s first-ever World Cup left Iniesta and Co. in less than optimum condition.

Barca had spent heavily on stars like Villa, Mascherano and Adriano, but in their first Liga clash at Camp Nou they were upset in a shock 2-0 reverse to Hercules, with Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez hitting a famous double.

The…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/barca-edge-real-in-a-season-of-all-out-war-la-liga-in-2010-11/74

Author : [email protected] (Dan Edwards)

Publish date : 2024-07-30 12:00:00

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