# 2008–09 FC Barcelona season

In 2008–09, FC Barcelona started a new era with a new manager, former captain and Barcelona B coach Pep Guardiola, who led the team to the first treble in Spanish football history. After selling off high-profiled players such as Deco and Ronaldinho, Barcelona played scintillating football throughout the season, winning the Copa del Rey, La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League. This team is widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in football history.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Source : FC Barcelona

## Players
### Squad information

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Since | App | Goals | Ends | Transfer fee | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Víctor Valdés (VC) | 27 | EU | 2002 | 260 | 0 | 2010 | Youth system | |
| 2 | DF | Martín Cáceres | 22 | Non-EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | €16.5M | |
| 3 | DF | Gerard Piqué | 22 | EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | Youth system | Bought from Manchester United for €5M |
| 4 | DF | Rafael Márquez | 30 | EU | 2003 | 200 | 8 | 2012 | €5M | |
| 5 | DF | Carles Puyol (captain) | 31 | EU | 1999 | 270 | 4 | 2010 | Youth system | |
| 6 | MF | Xavi (VC) | 29 | EU | 1998 | 288 | 28 | 2014 | Youth system | |
| 7 | FW | Eiður Guðjohnsen | 30 | EU | 2006 | 72 | 13 | 2010 | €12M | |
| 8 | MF | Andrés Iniesta (VC) | 25 | EU | 2002 | 211 | 17 | 2014 | Youth system | |
| 9 | FW | Samuel Eto’o | 28 | EU | 2004 | 108 | 78 | 2010 | €27M | |
| 10 | FW | Lionel Messi | 21 | EU | 2004 | 109 | 54 | 2014 | Youth system | |
| 11 | FW | Bojan | 18 | EU | 2007 | 54 | 12 | 2013 | Youth system | |
| 13 | GK | José Manuel Pinto | 33 | EU | 2008 | 3 | 0 | 2010 | €0.5M | |
| 14 | FW | Thierry Henry | 31 | EU | 2007 | 59 | 31 | 2011 | €24M | |
| 15 | MF | Seydou Keita | 29 | EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | €14M | |
| 16 | DF | Sylvinho | 35 | EU | 2004 | 92 | 3 | 2009 | €2M | |
| 18 | DF | Gabriel Milito | 28 | EU | 2007 | 27 | 1 | 2011 | €17M | |
| 20 | DF | Dani Alves | 26 | EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | €29M | |
| 21 | MF | Alexander Hleb | 28 | Non-EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | €15M | |
| 22 | DF | Eric Abidal | 29 | EU | 2007 | 40 | 0 | 2011 | €15M | |
| 24 | MF | Yaya Touré | 26 | Non-EU | 2007 | 32 | 2 | 2012 | €9M | Under Bosman ruling |
| 25 | GK | Albert Jorquera | 30 | EU | 2003 | 17 | 0 | 2010 | Youth system | |
| 27 | FW | Pedro | 21 | EU | 2008 | 2 | 0 | Undisclosed | Youth system | |
| 28 | MF | Sergio Busquets | 20 | EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | Youth system | |
| 29 | DF | Víctor Sánchez | 21 | EU | 2008 | 0 | 0 | Undisclosed | Youth system | |
* Source: FC Barcelona and footballdatabase.com

### Players in and out
#### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee | Source |
| 15 | MF | Keita | 28 | EU | Sevilla | Transfer Y | Summer | 2012 | €14M | Barcelona.cat |
| 3 | DF | Piqué | 21 | EU | Manchester United | Transfer Y | Summer | 2012 | €5M | Barcelona.cat |
| 13 | GK | Pinto | 32 | EU | Celta de Vigo | Transfer Y | Summer | 2010 | €0.5M | Barcelona.cat |
| 2 | DF | Cáceres | 21 | Non-EU | Villarreal | Transfer Y | Summer | 2012 | €16.5M | Barcelona.cat |
| 20 | DF | Alves | 25 | EU | Sevilla | Transfer Y | Summer | 2012 | €29M + €6M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 21 | MF | Hleb | 27 | Non-EU | Arsenal | Transfer Y | Summer | 2012 | €11.8M | Barcelona.cat |
| 12 | DF | Henrique | 21 | Non-EU | Palmeiras | Transfer Y | Summer | 2013 | €8M + €2M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 28 | MF | Busquets | 20 | EU | Barcelona B | Promote | Summer | 2013 | Free | |
Total spending: €88M

#### Out

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| 15 | DF | Edmílson | 31 | EU | Villarreal | Contract Termination N | Summer | Free | Barcelona.cat |
| 11 | DF | Zambrotta | 31 | EU | Milan | Transfer Y | Summer | €9M + €2M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 17 | FW | Dos Santos | 19 | EU | Tottenham Hotspur | Transfer Y | Summer | €6M + €5M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 21 | DF | Thuram | 36 | EU | Retired | Contract Termination N | Summer | Free | Barcelona.cat |
| 18 | FW | Ezquerro | 31 | EU | Osasuna | Contract Termination N | Summer | Free | Barcelona.cat |
| 20 | MF | Deco | 30 | EU | Chelsea | Transfer Y | Summer | €10M | Barcelona.cat |
| 10 | FW | Ronaldinho | 28 | EU | Milan | Transfer Y | Summer | €21M + €4M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 12 | DF | Henrique | 21 | Non-EU | Bayer Leverkusen | Loan → | Summer | N/A | Barcelona.cat |
| 23 | DF | Oleguer | 28 | EU | Ajax | Transfer Y | Summer | €3M + €2.25M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
| 26 | MF | Crosas | 20 | EU | Celtic | Transfer Y | Summer | €0.5M + €0.8M in variables | Barcelona.cat |
Total income: €49.5M

### Squad stats

| | | | | Total | Total | Total | Champions League | Champions League | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | Copa Catalunya | Copa Catalunya |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Sts | App | Gls | App | Gls | App | Gls | App | Gls | App | Gls |
| 1 | GK | | V. Valdés | 49 | 49 | | 14 | | 35 | | | | | |
| 20 | DF | | Dani Alves | 52 | 54 | 5 | 12 | | 34 | 5 | 8 | | | |
| 5 | DF | | Puyol | 41 | 45 | 1 | 11 | | 28 | 1 | 6 | | | |
| 3 | DF | | Piqué | 44 | 45 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 1 | | |
| 22 | DF | | Abidal | 31 | 32 | | 5 | | 25 | | 2 | | | |
| 24 | MF | | Touré Yaya | 39 | 43 | 3 | 12 | | 25 | 2 | 6 | 1 | | |
| 6 | MF | | Xavi | 49 | 54 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 35 | 6 | 5 | 1 | | |
| 8 | MF | | A. Iniesta | 38 | 43 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 6 | | | |
| 10 | FW | | Messi | 41 | 51 | 38 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 23 | 8 | 6 | | |
| 9 | FW | | Eto'o | 46 | 52 | 36 | 12 | 6 | 36 | 30 | 4 | | | |
| 14 | FW | | Henry | 36 | 42 | 26 | 12 | 6 | 29 | 19 | 1 | 1 | | |
| 13 | GK | | Pinto | 11 | 11 | | | | 2 | | 9 | | | |
| 25 | GK | | Jorquera | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 41 | GK | | Oier | 1 | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 2 | DF | | M. Cáceres | 16 | 23 | | 3 | | 13 | | 7 | | | |
| 4 | DF | | Márquez | 36 | 37 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 1 | | |
| 16 | DF | | Sylvinho | 22 | 30 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 15 | | 8 | | | |
| 18 | DF | | Milito | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 29 | DF | | V. Sánchez | 6 | 12 | | 3 | | 7 | | 2 | | | |
| 37 | DF | | Botía | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 46 | DF | | Muniesa | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 15 | MF | | Keita | 29 | 46 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 29 | 4 | 5 | | | |
| 21 | MF | | Hleb | 19 | 36 | | 9 | | 19 | | 8 | | | |
| 28 | MF | | Sergio B. | 31 | 41 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 9 | | | |
| 30 | MF | | Vázquez | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 35 | MF | | Abraham | | 2 | | | | 1 | | 1 | | | |
| 44 | MF | | Thiago | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 45 | MF | | Xavi Torres | 2 | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | | |
| 7 | FW | | Gudjohnsen | 17 | 34 | 4 | 5 | | 24 | 3 | 5 | 1 | | |
| 11 | FW | | Bojan | 18 | 42 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 5 | | |
| 27 | FW | | Pedro | 6 | 14 | | 5 | | 6 | | 3 | | | |
| 31 | FW | | Jeffrén | | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | | |

### Disciplinary record

| N | Pos. | Name | | | |
| 1 | GK | V. Valdés | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | GK | Pinto | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | Dani Alves | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Piqué | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Márquez | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Puyol | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Abidal | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | DF | M. Cáceres | 3 | | 1 |
| 24 | MF | Touré Yaya | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Xavi | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Busquets | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | A. Iniesta | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Keita | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | MF | V. Sánchez | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Eto'o | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | Henry | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Bojan | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Messi | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Gudjohnsen | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Competitive matches Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Pep Guardiola |
| Assistant coach | Tito Vilanova |
| Goalkeeping coach | Juan Carlos Unzué |
| Physical fitness coach | Lorenzo Buenaventura |
| Lead fitness coach | Paco Seirul·lo |
| Field work | Aureli Altimira |
| Strength work | Francesc Cos |
Source: FC Barcelona

## Competitions
### Overall

As in nine out of the last ten seasons, Barcelona was present in all major competitions. First division and Copa del Rey in Spain and UEFA Champions League in Europe.
| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| La Liga | — | Winner | 31 August 2008 | 31 May 2009 |
| Champions League | Third qualifying round | Winner | 13 August 2008 | 27 May 2009 |
| Copa del Rey | Round of 32 | Winner | 28 October 2008 | 13 May 2009 |
Source: Competitions

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 105 | 35 | +70 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 38 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 83 | 52 | +31 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Sevilla | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 39 | +15 | 70 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 80 | 57 | +23 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Villarreal | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 61 | 54 | +7 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 8 May. Source: Competitive Matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | D |
| Position | 17 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches

All kickoff times are in CEST.  Win  Draw  Loss

### UEFA Champions League
#### Third qualifying round
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Barcelona | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Basel | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 1 | |

#### Knockout phase
##### Final
## Record

| Competition | Won | Draw | Lost |
| La Liga | 27 | 6 | 5 |
| Copa del Rey | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| UEFA Champions League | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Friendly | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 48 | 13 | 7 |