Hansen on LFC, Barca and Utd
Alan Hansen today became the latest former Liverpool player to declare newly-crowned European champions Barcelona the greatest club side of all time.
Last week Graeme Souness claimed Pep Guardiola's team was even better than the unstoppable Liverpool sides that dominated Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Now, following their masterclass of football in sweeping aside Manchester United 3-1 on Saturday, Hansen concurs.
"They have taken football onto another level and possess one of the finest group of attacking players I have ever seen," said the Scot.
"Very little surprises me in football. Wayne Rooney's overhead kick for United against Manchester City earlier this season was a special moment, but we have seen overhead kicks before.
"There were moments in the game at Wembley on Saturday, however, when I saw things that I have never seen before. Barcelona's inter-passing, Messi's movement and ability to find space and the attacking brilliance of their forward players left me wondering how on Earth you could stop it."
Guardiola has brought three La Liga trophies, two Champions Leagues, one Club World Cup and one Spanish Cup back to the Nou Camp.
For Hansen, these achievements and the style of football delivered puts the current European champions ahead his second and third choices - Ajax 1970-73 (three Eredivisie, three European Cups, one Inter-Continental Trophy, three Dutch Cups) and Liverpool 1977-81 (three Championships, three European Cups, one League Cup).
He added: "With Johan Cruyff as their inspiration, Ajax revolutionised the way football was played and their dominance was such that the nucleus of the team almost won the World Cup for Holland in 1974 and 1978.
"We (Liverpool) had great players and a great team, but like Manchester United in recent years, our strength came in adversity. We might have been technically inferior compared to others, but our team ethic and spirit were huge factors."
Despite his belief that no team in history could match Messi and co, Hansen thinks his Liverpool would have equipped themselves better than Manchester United's class of 2011.
"The Liverpool team that I played in during the late 1970s and early 1980s won four European Cups in eight seasons and I'm certain that we would have given Barcelona a better game than United did at Wembley," he said.
"Barcelona decimated an average United team who had no answer to their opponents' ability. Our Liverpool team were a much stronger team than the present United outfit, but we would still have had to find a way of nullifying Messi, Xavi and Iniesta.
"The challenge facing Pep Guardiola and his players now is to dominate the Champions League by winning it again and again for a period of years, like the great dynasties of Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern, Liverpool and Milan."
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