FC Barcelona's 10 Best Moments in 2008-09

Andrew Jordan by Analyst Written on May 29, 2009

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ROME - MAY 27:  Lionel Messi of Barcelona lifts the trophy as he and his team mates celebrates winning the UEFA Champions League Final match between Barcelona and Manchester United at the Stadio Olimpico on May 27, 2009 in Rome, Italy. Barcelona won 2-0.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

During the 2008-2009 season, FC Barcelona had one of the greatest seasons in football history as they won La Liga, the Copa del Ray and the Champions League all in one year, making them the first Spanish team to ever win the treble.

With stars like Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry along with a strong youth academy, Barcelona right now are the best team in Europe, if not the world. Here is a look back at the 10 best moments for Barcelona this year.

No. 10 Thrashing Sporting Gijon to win their first game in La Liga

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After finishing third the year before in La Liga and failing to reach the Champions League final, Barcelona and their new coach Josep Guardiola started off the season in disappointing fashion as they had a shocking loss to Numancia and drew with Racing Santander in their first two La Liga games.

However, in their third game, they had to play against Sporting Gijon, who were just recently promoted. But Barcelona got their act together and won the game 6-1, regaining their composure and getting a fresh start to the new La Liga campaign.

No. 9 Demolishing Lyon at the Camp Nou

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 11:  Seydou Keita (C) of Barcelona sits on his knees celebrates scoring during the UEFA Champions League, First knock-out round, second leg match between Barcelona and Lyon at the Camp Nou stadium on March 11, 2009 in Barcelona, S

In the Champions League round of 16, Barcelona was paired up with defending French Champions Lyon. In the first leg at Lyon's Stade Gerland, the result ended in a one all draw for both teams and they were heading into the Camp Nou for the second leg.

But in the second leg, Barcelona came out firing, as they scored four goals in the first 43 minutes of the game, which all but secured a trip onto the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich as they went onto win the game 5-2.

No. 8 Real Madrid loses; Gives Barcelona La Liga to get the Spanish Double

MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 04:  Rafael Van Der Vaart (R) of Real Madrid is tackled by Gonzalo Rodriguez of Villarreal during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on January 4, 2009 in Madrid, Spain.  (Photo by

Even though they didn't play on May 16, Barcelona still won La Liga and the Spanish double after arch rivals Real Madrid lost at Villarreal 3-2.

Because of their win in the Copa del Rey final several days earlier, Barcelona now had accomplished their first Spanish double in 11 years and now only needed to win the Champions League Final to be the first Spanish team to win the treble.

No. 7 Blowing out Bayern Munich in the Quarterfinals

BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 08:  Thierry Henry of Barcelona goes round Hans Jorg Butt of Bayern Munich during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg match between FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou stadium on April 8, 2009 in Barcel

After beating up Lyon in the round of 16, Barcelona were paired up with Bayern Munich, who just annihilated Sporting Libson 12-1 on aggregate in the previous round in the round of 16, in the quarterfinals.

But as soon as the two teams kicked off, Barcelona came out firing as they scored four goals in the first 43 minutes, and went on to win the game by the same score.

This win all but secured Barcelona in a spot in the Champions League semifinals, which was another step towards the treble.

No. 6 Hiring Josep Guardiola

ROME - MAY 27: Josep Guardiola coach of Barcelona celebrates after Barcelona won 2-0 during the UEFA Champions League Final match between Barcelona and Manchester United at the Stadio Olimpico on May 27, 2009 in Rome, Italy.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty

After a disappointing season in 2007-2008, Barcelona let go of manager Frank Rijkaard and replaced him with former Barcelona club captain Josep Guardiola, who had only one year of coaching experience.

Immediately after coming in, he let Ronaldinho and Deco leave Barcelona, and planned to use his 4-3-3 system to lead the team to success.

This plan was a huge success as Barcelona went on to win the Treble and Josep Guardiola had a dream season as his first season as Barcelona manager.

No. 5 Scoring two Late Goals to defeat Real Madrid

BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 13:  Carles Puyol (2nd R) of Barcelona goes for a high ball with Fernando Gago (R) and Sergio Ramos (2nd L) of Real Madrid as Barcelona player Thierry Henry looks on during the La Liga match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at

On December 13, Barcelona and Real Madrid met at the Camp Nou in Juande Ramos debut as Real's coach.

Throughout the first 70 minutes of the game, Real played equal with Barcelona, who was holding a 12 point lead over their rivals already in La Liga.

But in the 70th minute, Samuel Eto'o was given a chance on a penalty to give Barcelona a lead, but the shot was stopped by Iker Casillas, and the game remained scoreless.

But Eto'o never gave up and in the 83rd minute, he got a header from Carles Puyol, and hit it into the back of the net, giving Barcelona a 1-0 lead. Lionel Messi also scored for Barcelona in the beginning of stoppage time, and Barcelona went on to beat their rivals 2-0.

No. 4 Beating Athletic Bilbao to win the Copa del Rey

VALENCIA, SPAIN - MAY 13: Seydou Keita (lL) of Barcelona celebrates with team mate Gerad Pique after winning the Copa del Rey final match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at the Mestalla stadium on May 13, 2009 in Valencia, Spain. Barcelona won 3-1

After getting past Mallocra 3-1 on aggreagate in the semifinals, Barcelona faced off against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final.

Bilbao, who was trying for their first trophy in 25 years, took an early lead on a Gaizka Toquero Pinedo goal, but Barcelona rebounded as Gneri Toure Yaya, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Xavi all found the back of the net, giving Barcelona the Copa del Rey trophy.

This was Josep Guardiola's first trophy as Barcelona manager, and it was the first of three legs of the treble.

No. 3 Beating Real Madrid 6-2

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 02:  Lionel Messi of Barcelona beats  Cristoph Metzelder of Real Madrid during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on May 2, 2009 in Madrid, Spain.  (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

On May 2, Barcelona went to the Bernabéu in Madrid to face off with Real Madrid in what was probably the most important game in La Liga all season.

And Real showed that they came to play as Gonzalo Higuaín scored in the 14th minute to give them a 1-0 lead. But Barcelona rebounded as Thierry Henry, Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi scored within the rest of the half, giving Barcelona a 3-1 lead at the half.

But in the 56th minute, Sergio Ramos scored to make it a one goal game, but Barcelona rebounded again as Henry, Messi and Gerard Pique all scored, giving Barcelona a 6-2 win and all but secured La Liga for them.

No. 2 Messi's Header in the Final

ROME - MAY 27:  Lionel Messi of Barcelona scores past Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar during the UEFA Champions League Final match between Barcelona and Manchester United at the Stadio Olimpico on May 27, 2009 in Rome, Italy.  (Photo by Lau

In the Champions League final, Barcelona and Manchester United met in Rome on May 27 to decide who would become the next Champion of Europe. Early on, Samuel Eto'o scored off Edwin Van de Sar, giving Barcelona a 1-0 lead and gave Barcelona control of the game.

This doomed United for the rest of the half as they weren't able to get anything going offensively. But after Xavi hit a post, it seemed that United would come back.

But Lionel Messi had no plans of that, as he headed in a cross from Xavi in the 70th minute, which all but secured the Champions League final for Barcelona, as they won the game 2-0 and became the first Spanish team to win the treble.

No. 1 Iniesta's Winner at Chelsea

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 06:  Andres Iniesta of Barcelona celebrates scoring in the final minutes during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final Second Leg match between Chelsea and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on May 6, 2009 in London, England.  (Photo by Jami

In the Champions League semifinal, Barcelona and Chelsea met with the winner going to the Champions League final. The first leg was at the Camp Nou and the game ended without any score, mainly because of a great game from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.

So the two teams met a week later in Stamford Bridge in London, and Chelsea took an early lead in the ninth minute as Michael Essien nailed a shot off the crossbar and past Víctor Valdés, giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

Afterwards, Chelsea dominated the game, and also got a man advantage as Éric Abidal got red carded for a tackle on Nicolas Anelka in the 66th minute.

But as stoppage time neared, Barcelona finally got an attack together, and in the third minute of stoppage time, Lionel Messi crossed the ball to Andrés Iniesta, who then vollied the ball past Cech, tying the game and giving Barcelona the lead in the series based on away goals, as Iniesta's volley got Barcelona to the Champions League final.

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written on May 29, 2009 Rankings/List

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