The Barcelona Legacy Podcast

The 2009 Champions League group stage saw Pep Guardiola and JoseMourinho go head to head for the first time as coaches.Few were surprised when Barcelona came out on top. But then they met againin the semi final stage of the same competition and the result wasdifferent – dramatically so. And so began one of the game’s mostintriguing and bitter rivalries.In this episode, Marcus Speller and Jonathan Wilson are joined byfreelance sports writer and broadcaster, Paolo Bandini to discuss thesemi final second leg between Barcelona and Inter – a matchthat saw the Italians put a serious dent in the Catalan club’s aura ofinvincibility.Essential listening for anyone who loves football – past, present andfuture!Over six episodes, Guardian football correspondent Jonathan Wilsonand the Football Ramble’s Marcus Speller, along with a panel ofexperts, take an in depth look at six incredible matches that changedfootball and helped to define this footballing evolution, from JohanCruyff’s Barcelona to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Alex Ferguson’sManchester United to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.The series coincides with the release of The Barcelona Legacy – abook written by Jonathan Wilson – out this month in hardback,eBook and audiobook.

It was a match that had everything – the Champions League Final in 2009 between Barcelona and Manchester United: two of the biggest clubs in the world, playing the best football, facing off in the final; Guardiola v Ferguson; the young pretender v the seasoned veteran; Messi v Ronaldo. It was a mouth-watering prospect.In the end though, it was a match up that did not live up to its billing – at least not for United fans – as Barcelona dismantled their opponents with a mesmerising display of possession football. It was the day that Guardiola showed the world just how good a coach he had become. A match that secured him and Barcelona a treble in his first season and showed that he had taken the Cruyffian principles he had leant as a player in the 90s and evolved them into a devastating new style of play.In this episode Marcus Speller and Jonathan Wilson are joined by Miguel Delaney (Chief Football Writer at The Independent) to discuss the 2009 Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.This new six-part football series explores how the evolution of today’s beautiful game began at Barcelona 25 years ago with the pioneering ideas of Johan Cruyff and was then taken on by the likes of Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.Essential listening for anyone who loves football – past, present and future!Over six episodes, Guardian football correspondent Jonathan Wilson and the Football Ramble’s Marcus Speller, along with a panel of experts, take an in depth look at six incredible matches that changed football and helped to define this footballing evolution, from Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.The series coincides with the release of The Barcelona Legacy – a book written by Jonathan Wilson – out this month in hardback, eBook and audiobook.

Tuesday 8th March 2005, Chelsea v Barcelona at Stamford Bridge – Jose Mourinho faces off against the club he left five years earlier, a club he knows inside and out, a club he felt rejected by, a club playing a style of football he no longer believes in.In this episode Marcus Speller and Jonathan Wilson are joined by John Brewin (Guardian) to discuss the 2005 Champions League last 16 second leg between Chelsea and Barcelona – a match that saw the London club playing some of the most exciting football of the whole of Mourinho's career and resulted in his beating his old club playing his own brand of football.This new six-part football series explores how the evolution of today’s beautiful game began at Barcelona 25 years ago with the pioneering ideas of Johan Cruyff and was then taken on by the likes of Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.Essential listening for anyone who loves football – past, present and future!Over six episodes, Guardian football correspondent Jonathan Wilson and the Football Ramble’s Marcus Speller, along with a panel of experts, take an in depth look at six incredible matches that changed football and helped to define this footballing evolution, from Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.The series coincides with the release of The Barcelona Legacy – a book written by Jonathan Wilson – out this month in hardback, eBook and audiobook.

In this episode Marcus Speller and Jonathan Wilson are joined by Gabriele Marcotti (The Times and Sports Illustrated) to discuss the 1994 Champions League Final between Barcelona and AC Milan. It was a match that marked the end of Cruyff's reign at Barcelona – a reign that had of unprecedented success and a hailed a new style of play that influenced the generation to follow – especially a young midfielder by the name of Pep Guardiola.The six part series explores how the evolution of today’s beautiful game of football began at Barcelona, 25 years ago, with the pioneering ideas of Johan Cruyff and was taken on by the likes of Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Pepe Guardiola.Over six episodes, the Football Ramble’s Marcus Speller, along with a panel of experts, takes an in depth look at six incredible matches that changed football and helped to define this footballing evolution, from Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.The series coincides with the release of The Barcelona Legacy – a book written by one of the panelists, Guardian football correspondent Jonathan Wilson – out this month in hardback, eBook and audiobook

The first episode in a new six-part football series that explores how the evolution of today’s beautiful game began at Barcelona 25 years ago with the pioneering ideas of Johan Cruyff, and was then taken on by the likes of Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.In this episode we begin at the end of this story, looking at a classic match from the 2018 season which illustrates Cruyff's enduring legacy today.In January 2018 Liverpool played host to Manchester City in a match that upset a remarkable winning run. Klopp – so often Kryptonite to Guardiola teams – had done it again. It was a result that had clear similarities to another match twenty four years earlier, from Guardiola's time at Barcelona in the 90s. Marcus Speller and Jonathan Wilson are joined by Jack Pitt-Brooke (The Independent) to discuss this extraordinary match, a ground-breaking City team and the lessons from the past.Essential listening for anyone who loves football – past, present and future!Over six episodes, Guardian football correspondent Jonathan Wilson and the Football Ramble’s Marcus Speller, along with a panel of experts, take an in depth look at six incredible matches that changed football and helped to define this footballing evolution, from Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.The series coincides with the release of The Barcelona Legacy – a book written by Jonathan Wilson – out this month in hardback, eBook and audiobook.

Trailer for the Barcelona Legacy Podcast launching on Thursday 26th July 2018.