Levante vs Barcelona preview - Pep - We won't match `Dream Team'

Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2011 by PA

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola believes his side will never match Johan Cruyff's `Dream Team' of the early 1990s regardless of how many titles they win.

Levante vs Barcelona preview - Pep - We won't match `Dream Team' Barca will be crowned Primera Division champions for a third-successive season with a point against Levante.

Indeed, the Catalans could even take the field with that triumph already sealed if Real Madrid, eight points off the pace and with a worse head-to-head record than their rivals, fail to beat Getafe tonight.

Guardiola's side of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta has been hailed as the greatest ever in some quarters, but Guardiola feels it cannot compare to Cruyff's side of Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman who won four straight titles at the start of the 1990s, as well as the 1992 European Cup.

"They were pioneers," Guardiola, himself a member of that team, said. "That cannot be matched by winning more titles. You can never be equal to the `Dream Team' as they were the first to end that streak of so many years without winning.

"(Former coaches Louis) van Gaal, (Frank) Rijkaard and us have carried things on, but nothing would have existed without them."

Even though the title is all but wrapped up, and a Champions League final showdown with Manchester United is rapidly approaching, Guardiola has urged his players to focus only on Levante.

"It seems to be done but it is not done yet," he said. "The sooner the better.

"We do not rely on other results and we must be focused on Levante, who have gone three months without losing at home and are almost safe."

The hosts lie in 10th place, but a return of one point from their last three games has left them just four points above the drop zone.

And they have a tough run-in with the clash followed by a trip to Valencia and a final-day meeting with a Real Zaragoza side also scrapping for points to avoid relegation.

Barca have an almost fully-fit squad, with Gabriel Milito out and Carles Puyol a doubt.