In recent years Barcelona football club have been unstoppable, they have been the best team in Europe, over the last ten seasons they have won six Spanish La Liga titles including the most recent season. They have also had the honour of winning two Copa Del Reys, three Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA World Cups, this is an impressive list of achievements for one club. Despite beating Real Madrid to the Spanish League title, in the European competition the Champions League the Barcelona shirts struggled. Following the group stage the team clawed their way into the semi-final round after drawing home and away with PSG, winning on aggregate goals, but were spectacularly defeated by German side Bayern Munich losing 4-0 at Bayern, and 0-3 at the Nou Camp, making the final score an excruciating 7-0 on aggregate. Bayern Munich went on to beat Borussia Dortmund to be crowned champions of Europe. The two teams recently played again in a friendly (view pictures of the Bayern Munich v Barcelona match).

Since the early 1970s Bayern Munich have monopolized the German Bundesliga, finishing in the top spot on an impressive 21 occasions. However their record in Europe has been more indecisive, they had a run of three successive wins in 1974, 75 and 76, they won again in 2001, and finally succeeded in lifting the trophy again during this years campaign. It seems there may be a rival to Barcelona's dominance, and Bayern's new manager Pep Guardiola should ignite more fear into the rest of Europe. Guardiola played and managed at Barcelona, during his time managing the Catalan giants he bought home 14 out of a possible 19 trophies, he resigned after losing to Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League semi-final, and is sure to be looking to rack up more trophies in his new role as manager in the Bundesliga.

Guardiola managed his first game as Bayern Munich coach earlier this week, they played against Barcelona and won 2-0. Some commentators are using this as an opportunity to hail the German sides skill and the weakness of Barca. However, in reality the Barcelona team can take a great deal away from the game, they were missing several key players including Xavi, Andres Iniesta and new signing Neymar, neither did they have a manager as Tito Vilanova has left due to illness and new manger Gerardo Martino has yet to take up his post. The team played much of the match with mostly reserve team players on the pitch, there defensive skills were noticeably improved upon last seasons efforts and the young players were outstanding, they created opportunities to score and defended well. This was the first preseason game for the players in the Barcelona shirts, they will soon be heading to China, Thailand and Malaysia for their Asian summer tour, an opportunity to prepare for the new season ahead. With two of the greatest teams in Europe acquiring new managers for the upcoming 2013/14 season it will be interesting to see how the teams are shaped and moulded and how they play in their respective leagues as well Europe.

What did you think of the most recent clash between Bayern Munich and Barca?

Do you think next seasons Catalonia based squad have a chance to reign supreme in Europe again?

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