The Making of the Greatest Team in the World - A look back at all 10 extracts from Graham Hunter's new book on Barcelona

Feb 24, 2012 9:00:00 AM

Since November, Goal.com has been publishing extracts from Graham Hunter's book, Barca - The Making of the Greatest Team in the World. Here is a look back at all 10 pieces

Between November and last Friday, Goal.com published 10 extracts from Graham Hunter's new book on Barcelona, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World. Details of how to buy the book can be found at the publisher's website at the bottom of the page

All good things come to an end. Goal.com has had the pleasure of publishing exclusive extracts from Graham Hunter's new book on Barca and we would like to thank both the author and the publisher, Backpage Press, for this collaboration.

Below, there is another chance to enjoy the 10 excerpts we have published in that time, covering a wide range of topics in Barca's recent rise to the top both in Spain and beyond. Enjoy!

EXTRACT 1: RONALDINHO & DECO HAD TO GO - FOR MESSI'S SAKE

When a tearful Lionel Messi limped out of a Champions League match against Celtic on March 4, 2008, it spelled the end of his and Barcelona's season. It also led to a clandestine meeting of Camp Nou power-brokers, who formulated a radical strategy to protect their 18-year-old golden boy and ensure his place at the forefront of a new era at Barcelona. And that involved the departure of the club's two brilliant but problematic supertars: 'Ronaldinho & Deco were completely out of control; to unleash the power of Lionel Messi, they had to leave Barcelona' (Published November 18, 2011)

EXTRACT 2: HOW BECKHAM & MADRID HELPED BARCA TO GREATNESS

Sandro Rosell and Joan Laporta, current and former presidents of Barcelona, are bitter enemies today, but it was Rosell, with one of the greatest public relations coups in football history, that took Laporta to the Camp Nou – if not David Beckham. The Englishman ended up signing for Real Madrid, of course, but Barca bought Ronaldinho and went on to win back-to-back league titles and the Champions League in 2006. In this extract, Hunter examines How Real Madrid & David Beckham helped Barcelona become the best team in the world (Published November 25, 2011)

EXTRACT 3: GLORY BEGAN AT EURO 2008 FOR XAVI, INIESTA & PUYOL

Ahead of the Euro 2012 draw made in early December, Hunter recalled the previous finals, which heralded a new era in European football at international and club level. Size, it would turn out, really wasn't that important. And it was a trio of Barcelona players who formed the spine of the side which would claim the continental crown in Austria and Switzerland before winning the World Cup in 2010, plus numerous other titles at Camp Nou. The path to greatness - how it all started with Spain's triumph at Euro 2008 for Barcelona trio Xavi, Iniesta & Puyol (Published December 2, 2011)

EXTRACT 4: HOW JOSE TURNED MADRID INTO CLASICO COMPETITORS

However irksome it has been for Real Madrid to stand with their nose to the windowpane of the world’s recent love-in with Barcelona under Pep Guardiola, it’s a million times more galling for Madridistas, who bought into a strategy that was originally called ‘Zidanes and Pavones’. In part due to the failure of this policy, this era in Madrid's history would become known as that of 'Los Galacticos'. But that epoch is now long gone and here, Hunter explores Real's recent renaissance. From fancy flops to Clasico competitors - how Mourinho's Madrid are closing the gap on Barcelona (Published December 9, 2011)

EXTRACT 5: MESSI'S CHEST & PEP'S TEARS IN CLUB WORLD CUP WIN

Ahead of the Catalans' successful Club World Cup campaign in December, this extract looked back to 2009 and the last time Barcelona had played in the competition, when Lionel Messi contrived yet another way to score a decisive goal and Pep Guardiola, Mr Composure, ended up a sobbing wreck as his side claimed an unprecedented six trophies in the space of just 18 months following his arrival as coach of the first team in the summer of 2008. Lionel Messi's chest & Pep Guardiola's tears - how Barcelona made it six out of six with the Club World Cup (Published December 16, 2011)

EXTRACT 6: PEP'S RISE FROM THIRD DIVISION TO WORLD DOMINATION

Pep Guardiola has won it all as coach of Barcelona and the hallmarks of his success were apparent if you looked hard enough at Barca B, in the Spanish third division, in season 2007-08. Guardiola spent just a year in charge of the club's youth team and led them to promotion before stepping up to the senior side and making history with six titles out of six in 2008-09 and early 2009-10. Here, Hunter looks at his season with Barca B. From B-team boss to the top of the world - how Pep Guardiola set out to change Barcelona from day one in Spain's third division (Published December 23, 2011)

EXTRACT 7: WHY BARCA OWE THEIR MODERN-DAY SUCCESS TO CRUYFF

If the 175,000 FC Barcelona members, or socios, queued up in an orderly line, night after night, to massage his tired feet, cook his dinner and tuck him into bed; if they carried his golf clubs round Montanya’s hilly 18 holes; if they devoted 50 per cent of their annual salary to him … it still wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to repay the debt that those who love this club owe Johan Cruyff. Hunter looks at the man who inspired the club's modern-day success. 'Without him there'd be no Messi, Xavi, Iniesta or Guardiola' - why Barca's modern success is thanks to Cruyff (Published December 30, 2011)

EXTRACT 8: HOW MESSI'S ROAD TO THE TOP BEGAN AGAINST JUVENTUS

Leo Messi completed a hat-trick of Ballon d'Or titles earlier this year and Barcelona's star man is still only 24. After picking up his prize in Switzerland, Hunter looked back in this extract to the Barca performance that first established the Argentine forward as the next global superstar, in a Gamper Trophy clash against Juventus in the summer of 2005. Who said pre-season friendlies were meaningless? 'In my entire life I have never seen a player of such quality' - how Lionel Messi's path to greatness began against Fabio Capello's Juventus (Published January 13, 2012)

EXTRACT 9: HOW BARCA REACTED TO LOSING THE COPA TO MADRID

Last season's Copa del Rey final, won by Real Madrid, set the tone for the turbo-charged Clasicos that have continued into 2012. Barca lost out to Madrid at Mestalla in the cup climax, but gained revenge as they edged out their fiercest rivals in La Liga and over two legs in the Champions League semi-finals, en route to a second continental crown in three seasons. Here, Hunter looks at how Barca responded following cup disappointment in Valencia. Tears, dull eyes & thousand-yard stares - how Barcelona reacted to losing the Copa del Rey to Madrid (Published January 27, 2012)

EXTRACT 10: WHEN ROONEY & UNITED BOWED TO THE BEST - INIESTA

Andres Iniesta has scored landmark goals for Barcelona and Spain, but it was his all-round performance in the 2009 Champions League final that led a Manchester United superstar to call him the best in the world – and he shouldn't even have been playing. The mild-mannered midfielder produced a stunning show to leave Wayne Rooney in awe, saying it was the Spain star - and not Messi - who was the best player on the planet. How Manchester United & Wayne Rooney bowed to the 'best in the world' versus Barcelona in 2009 - but it was Andres Iniesta, not Lionel Messi (Published February 17, 2012)

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With every extract published, Goal.com has given away an ebook or hard copy of Barca - The Making of the Greatest Team in the World.

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