Former Barcelona defender Gianluca Zambrotta is unsure over whether the club s current vintage is superior to Pep Guardiola s treble-winning heroes.
Guardiola makes his latest return to Camp Nou this week as Manchester City manager in an eagerly awaited Champions League Group C clash.
The Premier League leaders must contain the star-studded forward line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, although Zambrotta suggested Guardiola had more world-class players at his disposal when he swept the board in 2008-09 than Luis Enrique does now.
Even if there is less reliance on Barca s feted La Masia academy in the present day, the ex-Italy international still recognises plenty of commonalities in his former employers playing style.
It is hard to say [which side was better], both teams had great quality and great players, Zambrotta told Omnisport.
Maybe Guardiola s Barcelona had more world-class players.
This maybe was a team with more players brought up in La Masia but the philosophy is the same attacking football, and this hasn t changed from Guardiola s age to Luis Enrique s.
Luis Enrique s Barca overcame Bayern Munich when they were under Guardiola s charge at the semi-final stage of the Champions League in 2015, before going on to defeat Juventus in the final.
