BARCELONA, Spain -- Pep Guardiola, the managerial mastermind who led Barcelona to 14 of 19 possible titles in four seasons, is returning to Camp Nou.This time he will be at the helm of Manchester City as he faces his boyhood club in the Champions League on Wednesday.But how does the best of the teams Guardiola coached from 2008-2012 stack up against the current Barcelona side?Here is a comparison of Barcelonas current players with those led by Guardiola in 2008-09, the team that started the clubs winning era by becoming the first Spanish club to win the Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey in the same season.Barcelona repeated that rare feat of winning the treble of titles two seasons ago under present coach Luis Enrique.---FORWARDSMessi/Etoo/Henry (2008-09) vs. Messi/Suarez/Neymar (now)A budding star at 21 years old, Lionel Messi fully blossomed under Guardiola.The Argentina star won his first of a record five Ballon dOr awards in 2009, after having scored important goals such as his double in a historic 6-2 win at Real Madrid and the second goal in a 2-0 win to beat Manchester United in the Champions League final.Guardiola got one more superb season from striker Samuel Etoo, and squeezed out some of the last vintage goals that Thierry Henry had to offer.Hard to top that, right?Just look at Messis present partners in attack.With Messi moving away from a pure scorer to becoming both scorer and playmaker, Luis Suarez and Neymar have proven to be perfect fits up front. Suarez is the voracious goal-taker that Messi needed to focus on orchestrating, while Neymars dribbling skills and speed are almost unstoppable. The trio broke scoring records in each of the last two seasons.ADVANTAGE: Luis Enriques current attack.---MIDFIELDXavi/Toure/Iniesta (2008-09) vs. Rakitic/Busquets/Iniesta (now)Both teams enjoy the devilry of Andres Iniesta, but the 2008-09 side had both Yaya Toure and an upstart Sergio Busquets sharing time in front of the defense, as opposed to the current teams reliance on Busquets as a holding midfielder.The major difference, however, is the downgrade from Xavi Hernandez to Ivan Rakitic.Rakitic is more athletic and a better tackler than Xavi, but that cannot trump Xavis vision, poise and control of the match. The World Cup winner was Guardiolas on-pitch general of a possession-based passing attack that bewildered opponents.In other words, its a no-brainer.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 midfield.---DEFENSEDani Alves/Puyol/Pique/Abidal (2008-09) vs. Roberto/Pique/Mascherano/Alba (now)Always at the service of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelonas defense under Guardiola was easy to overlook.But that 2008-09 team enjoyed Dani Alves and Eric Adibal in their prime, a fully fit Carles Puyol before he was diminished by injuries, and a Gerard Pique hungry to come into his own.Pique now anchors a back line that is under transition.Jordi Alba offers blistering pace on the left flank, but its other two positions are in flux.Sergi Roberto, a converted midfielder, has impressed as Dani Alves replacement so far, while the other central defender position is in dispute between an aging Javier Mascherano and newcomer Samuel Umtiti.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 defense.---GOALKEEPER: Valdes (2008-09) vs. Ter Stegen (now)Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has just inherited the full-time goalkeeping responsibilities from Claudio Bravo. Despite his passing skills and ability to make spectacular saves, the German needs to improve his decision making to reach the level of Victor Valdes from 2008-09.ADVANTAGE: Guardiolas 2008-09 goalkeeper.---CONCLUSION:Even though this Barcelona side should be favored over City, it has a way to go to equal the overall excellence of Guardiolas first Barcelona squad. NFL Jerseys Chinese .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinese.com/ . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Wholesale Authentic Soccer Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. The Houston Rockets are loading up on shooting for new coach Mike DAntoni.The Rockets agreed to terms on Saturday with forward Ryan Anderson and guard Eric Gordon to add even more scoring punch around James Harden, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deals cannot be signed until July 7.Anderson is getting four years and $80 million, while Gordon agreed on a four-year, $53 million contract.The 28-year-old Anderson spent the past four seasons with New Orleans and has been one of the NBAs top 3-point shooters in recent years. He averaged 17 points and six rebounds last season.A first-round pick of the Nets in 2008, Anderson spent his rookie season there before he was traded to Orlando. He spent three seasons with the Magic with his breakout season coming in 2011-12, when he was selected as the NBAs Most Improved Player after leading the league with 166 3-pointers.Gordon has proven to be a potent scorer when healthy, but injuries have derailed him ever since his rookie season in 2008-09. He played 78 games that season with the Clippers, but his most since then was 64 three years ago.Gordon spent the previous five seasons in New Orleans, with the Pelicans hoping he could be the perimeter scorer they needed to take some of the attention away from Anthonyy Davis on the interior.ddddddddddddHe was limited to nine games in 2011-12 by a right knee injury and only played 45 games last year while dealing with a fractured right ring finger.If he can remain healthy, he will give the Rockets an explosive scorer off the bench behind Harden, one of the top scorers in the NBA.Both Gordon and Anderson should fit in nicely with DAntoni, who has always put more emphasis on scoring and offensive flow than on defense. DAntonis Phoenix Suns essentially ushered in the new era of 3-point shooting, and theres no doubt both Gordon and Anderson will have the green light any time the ball is in their hands.The Rockets are even more identifiable as an offensive team now that Dwight Howard has left for a contract with the Atlanta Hawks.General manager Daryl Morey wasnt able to land one of the coveted star free agents he has been searching for when the market opened, so he pivoted quickly to land two of the best shooters available on the second day of transactions.Gordon is a career 38 percent shooter from deep who shot a career best 44.8 percent on 3s two seasons ago.Anderson has shot 37.7 percent for his career.---AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report. 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