Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits he was lucky to take the Barcelona job when he did.
Guardiola appreciates looking back at the balance of the squad he inherited.
He told Bobo TV: "They were competitive animals, I learned a lot from them. Every three days they wanted to win, they wanted to be better than their teammates. I was lucky to have the best of all time (referring to Lionel Messi), and seven or eight players from the academy with the correct age, 24, 25, 26 years old.
"Then we had very strong foreigners like Eto'o. They all coincided at the perfect time, the stars allowed that to last four years. It is extraordinary, they played the finals as a friendly.
"They were great friends and each had their role. We all knew that Messi was the best, but then there were six or seven others who were strong, and others who knew they weren't playing because the others were stronger."
