Barcelona's iconic warm-up before destroying Man Utd in 2011 CL final | OneFootball

The 2011 Champions League final really was the definition of a one-sided affair.

Barcelona and Manchester United came face-to-face at the iconic Wembley Stadium and it was the former who emerged victorious with relative ease.

Pep Guardiola‘s side dropped an absolute masterclass in London, winning by a scoreline of 3-1 thanks to goals from Pedro Rodriguez, the formidable Lionel Messi and David Villa.

In truth, the result flattered United massively. Sir Alex Ferguson‘s men were dominated from start to finish and it’s a minor miracle that they were able to find the back of the net through Wayne Rooney – which actually levelled the scores at 1-1.

Barcelona’s football on the day was from another planet. Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta ruled the midfield to such an extent that it looked like men versus boys for the most part.

Up top, Messi, Pedro and Villa were quite simply unplayable, with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic – two of the defenders in the modern era – unable to lay a glove on them.

It really was an extraordinary showing from arguably the greatest club side in history and they were even terrifyingly good during their warm-up at Wembley.

Now, we know it’s easy for professional footballers to look good in a training environment, but Barcelona really did take it to another level entirely.

Footage of their rondo – which featured superhuman-like passing and chemistry – went viral 10 years after the match itself, a telltale sign of just how special it was.

Check it out…

Video: Barcelona’s iconic warm-up before 2011 Champions League final vs Man Utd

No, the video above is not sped up one bit, prime Barcelona really were that good at football and it’s no wonder they turned so many elite-level footballers into training cones under Guardiola’s rule.

The type of possession-based football seen above is exactly what beat Ferguson’s United into submission at Wembley over 11 years ago.

In an interview with Copa90 back in 2020, Ferdinand said Barcelona’s sheer magnificence on the Wembley turf actually left him feeling “embarrassed”.

“Barca gave us an absolute lesson at Wembley,” he said. “I was standing there watching them lift the trophy and me, Giggsy and Scholesy were standing together with our hands over our mouths and I said: ‘I feel embarrassed lads’.

“He [Messi] took liberties.”