Barcelona: 10 of their best performances in the modern era – in pictures

1. Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona, 2 May 2009, La Liga. A devastating display which all but secured the La Liga title in Pep Guardiola's first season in charge, a year they won every major competition. Real had won 17 of their previous 18 matches but they were destroyed at the Bernabéu. Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, two thirds of a brilliant front three along with Samuel Eto'o, each scored twice and Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué were also on the scoresheet. Barça were so dominant they could have scored 10 Photograph: Philippe DesMazes/AFP/Getty Images

2. Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, 29 Nov 2010, La Liga. The perfect performance. 'They didn't touch the ball,' Xavi later told the Guardian. 'In the dressing room we gave ourselves a standing ovation.' Xavi grabbed the first goal in the 10th minute and the scoring didn't stop until the 91st, when Jeffren struck the fifth. In between Pedro and David Villa, twice, heaped further misery on José Mourinho, for this was the worst defeat in his coaching career Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

3. Barcelona 4-0 Milan, 12 March 2013, Champions League round of 16. Before this match Xavi suggested the one thing this side lacked was a great comeback victory. Others argued the team was in decline. How wrong the critics were. Two-nil down from the first leg at the San Siro, when Barcelona had been insipid and disorganised, they returned to the style that had suited them best - hounding Milan all over the pitch, when they weren't passing them off it. Messi set them on their way with the first two goals, Villa added the third, and in stoppage-time the brilliant Jordi Alba secured the club's progress to the Champions League Photograph: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images

4. Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United, 28 May 2011, Champions League final. Barcelona were going for their third triumph in six years, United were playing their third final in four years. But only one team was ever going to win at Wembley. The Catalans' dominance was total, enjoying 63% of possession, 19 shots to four. United's only attempt on target was their equaliser, Wayne Rooney finishing well after Pedro's opening goal. But after half-time Messi and Villa thrashed shots past Edwin van der Sar and Barcelona lifted the European Cup for the second time at Wembley Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

5. Barcelona 4-1 Atlético Madrid, 16 Dec 2012, La Liga. This was first-placed Barcelona against second-placed Madrid, a familiar story but this time it was Atlético, not Real. Diego Simeone's team were flying, Radamel Falcao rivaling Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the scoring charts, and it was the Colombian who scored first. Big mistake. Adriano and Sergio Busquets had made it 2-1 by half-time, Messi had his say, twice in the second half. Barcelona enjoyed 75% possession and Falcao's effort was Atlético's only shot on target Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

6. Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United, 27 May 2009, Champions League final. So complete was Barcelona's ascendancy by the end of this match that it is easy to forget United went into the final as the holders, with Ronaldo playing superbly and their team the supposed equals of Guardiola's. United also started the match well, pushing Barcelona back in the early stages, but they fell apart once Eto'o gave Barça the lead after 10 minutes. Ferguson later described Barcelona's football as like a 'passing carousel', one that left United dizzied and confused. Messi, with a 70th-minute header, completed the misery Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

7. Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich, 8 Apr 2009, Champions League quarter-final. Jürgen Klinsmann's side were not as strong as the Bayern of this season, but Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery et al still represented formidable opposition and would form the basis of the team that would reach the final the following year. They were simply swept away by Barcelona. Messi was imperious, scoring two and involved in Eto'o and Henry's goals, the attacking trio irresistible in front of Yaya Toure, Xavi and Iniesta. Four-nil up at half-time, the Catalans took their foot of the gas and settled for a 1-1 draw in the second leg Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

8. Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen, 7 Mar 2012, Champions League round of 16. Messi became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League fixture as Barcelona breezed into the quarter-finals. The Spanish and European champions were already 3-1 up from the first leg and this was a complete mismatch. The extraordinary thing about the 7-1 scoreline was that the performance actually felt quite, well, ordinary Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

9. Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal, 6 Apr 2010, Champions League quarter-final. Possibly Messi's finest hour, although there is some stiff competition for that title. Barcelona had been scary at the start of the first leg at the Emirates, taking a 2-0 lead but creating so many more chances. Arsenal fought back to draw that game 2-2 and Nicklas Bendtner struck first at Camp Nou, but then they sat back and watched Messi wreak havoc on their defence, the little magician scoring four times Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

10. Espanyol 1-5 Barcelona, 18 Dec 2010, La Liga. By the time Pablo Osvaldo scored for the home team after 61 minutes, Barcelona had registered 31 goals without answer, including the following run of results: 8-0, 3-0, 5-0, 3-0, 2-0, 5-0. Three times they had already scored in this particular match, Pedro twice and Xavi chipping in. Villa would add two more to make it five goals on the night, eight away wins in a row, 10 in total. It was the perfect balance of brilliant possession football mixed with an unrivaled ability to harry, chase and hound opponents in possession. And all that in a derby against local rivals who fought and battled from first minute to last Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images