The Manchester United Team Of 1999 v The Barcelona Team Of Today.

First topic message reminder :

The has been alot of talk over the past 24 hours about the current Barca team being THE best ever. However I strongly believe that the UTD team of 99 would have given them a real match last night. I honestly feel that that team missed a trick by only winning the one Champions League. The midfield of Keane, Beckham, Giggs and Scholes, all at their peak, would have graced any side in world football...ever. Not to mention Nicky Butt in reserve.

Their attacking quartet of Yorke, Cole, Sherringham and Solskjær would have given any defence major problems and they were mean at the back to with Stam and Johnsen a brilliant pairing infront of the superb Schmeichel.

As a Liverpool fan I am writing this with gritted teeth but I genuinely believe that the 99 side would of tested Barcelona to their limit.

What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading.

Very good debate. As a Utd fan it's not hard to hold your hands up & say that the current Barca side is better than the treble team from 99.

But it's possible on any given day that the 99 could in a one off game beat this current team. If Bendtner could control the ball Barca would have been out in the 2nd round.

I rate Utd's team from 08 as a better team than the treble year. In 08, we lost 1-0 at home to Portsmouth in the FA Cup 1/4 final after Missing about 10 glorious chances. Kuszcack who was on at half time for Van Der Saar got sent off & conceded a penalty with 10 mins left. Leaving Muntari the oppurtunity to beat Rio from the spot & seal a famous win & they went onto lift the trophy... This only highlights how luck can play a massive part in a game. Barca won't be the same with an outfield player in goal or even Messi, Xavi or Iniesta injured.

In 99 we should have been out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round against Liverpool 1 down with 2 minutes left.... & incredibly down to 10 men & facing a penalty in the last minute of the semi replay against Arsenal... & in Europe Bayern were the better team on the day & we should have lost although I will say we were the best team throughout the tournament....

2008 team was as good if not better than the 99 team.

Keeper 99 Schimiechel has the edge
Defence 08 without doubt
Midfield 99 One of the best midfield ever
Attack 08 Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez on the same team! Unreal
Bench 08 Much more depth

it's arguably the 99 team was Utds best but as a United fan it was definately our luckiest

I think you make your own luck Brady. I was also going to include the Arsenal 'invincibles' team in the thread but I probably would have been blown out the water with them never winning the Champions League.

As you say a one off game then anything is possible.

I used to really enjoy watching Man Utd teams from around 92-02, those 10 years Fergie had an unbelievable outlook on attack with a very open 442, I don't find them anywhere near as entertaining now although possibly more effective but if choosing a EPL United team I'd be biased for the 92-01 era

The Utd team of 99 would have acquainted themselves better than the current team.

People also forget that this Utd team beat a Barca side with Eto'o, Henry, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi and Iniesta.

Fergie got the tactics wrong against Barca and Barca destroyed Utd. With the right side, Utd may have put up a fight unlike the shameful display at Wembley.This Barca team is great but can be beaten.

Sacchi's and Capellos Milan sides were probably the greatest teams ever in the champions league. The Galactico side as well deserves a mention.

If this Barca side wins a couple more champs league titles, they would be up there with the best ever.

This Barce team is not the greatest. The only reason Messi plays great for Barce is because of Xavi and Iniesta. Look at how bad Messi plays for Argentina.

Mark2011 wrote:This Barce team is not the greatest. The only reason Messi plays great for Barce is because of Xavi and Iniesta. Look at how bad Messi plays for Argentina.

I don't think he plays bad at all, he was Argentina's best player at the World Cup, whether he scored goals or not he was relied on heavily by the rest of the team and apart from goals delivered to their expectations. They didn't even need his goals at the World Cup really either. I think it's just people are so used to seeing how well he plays for Barca that they don't notice that he is good for Argentina as well. I don't think there are many players who play as well for their country as they do for their club, it's common sense to think that people would play better with the people that they play with every week and train with every day.