Yaya Toure backs 2009 Barcelona Treble winners to beat Pep Guardiola's Man City

Yaya Toure's eyes light up as he reels off Barcelona's iconic line-up from when they won the Treble in 2009.

'Thierry Henry, Messi, Samuel Eto'o, who was the best in the world. After that, Iniesta and Xavi. Then me and Busquets,' he says. 'That team was so complete.'

Indeed it was. The team led by Pep Guardiola that won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League that year is regarded by many as the most aesthetically-pleasing in modern football history with their sumptuous tiki-taka.

Toure, a midfielder, slotted in at centre-half as Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in Rome to gloriously round off what was Guardiola's first proper year in management.

But the roll call of old team-mates is Toure's way of answering whether that Barcelona side would beat Manchester City's current cohort, also Treble winners.

Toure believes they would. 'It would be tough but that team, with the mix of superstars, so many great players, I think they would win. 100 per cent,' he concludes.

'It was a dream. Even when we were in a training session, it was so intense. The levels we had every day.

'Imagine Iniesta when he was 26, 27. Xavi when he was 28… those players in that period were incredible.'

Maybe one day technology will allow us to play this match and know for sure, but Toure is well-placed to judge.

He left Barcelona in 2010 and joined City when they were just a pesky nuisance to Manchester United - the 'noisy neighbours' as Sir Alex Ferguson memorably dismissed them.

316 matches, 79 goals and three Premier League titles later, Toure left the Etihad Stadium in 2018 a club legend, with United increasingly a speck in City's rear-view mirror.

That gap has only widened and Toure was in Istanbul last month to see City claim their Holy Grail.

'This is what I predicted. When I made my debut, I said I came to this club because one day this club is going to be great and be on top of United,' he tells Mail Sport.

'At that moment, it was quite early and people were thinking, 'why is he saying that?' Most of the great players, like Sergio Aguero and David Silva weren't involved yet.

'So seeing Man City do that was incredible, to see them lift this trophy. Soon City will be really well respected in world football.

'It was going to take time but I knew it would happen because the owner [Sheikh Mansour] was trying to create something big and huge there. People were a bit impatient but we knew this would happen sooner or later.'

But Toure, 40, who has just taken up a new post as assistant to Carl Hoefkens at Belgian club Standard Liege, has a cautionary tale too.

After Barcelona won the Treble in 2009, they found it difficult to keep up such high standards.

Although they retained their LaLiga title in 2009-10, they went out the cup early and lost to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals.

Guardiola won't want a repeat with his City side now.

'We won everything and then we had a bit of a downfall,' Toure says.

'But that is normal for human beings, you have to have the right motivation. Sometimes it is the leader, the head coach, who has to set this up for all the players.

'The coach said we are fighting against us. We are the problem, not the opponent. We tried to put the same commitment and desire in again, because it is not easy to repeat.

'It will be difficult but City already have the experience of winning the league year-after-year.

'The core of the team will also stay the same, they are still young but they have players with experience and a love of winning games week-in, week-out.'

Ivorian Toure hung up his boots in 2020 following an illustrious career. The TV studio could have beckoned but he says it was always going to be the coaching route.

He has just spent a year coaching Tottenham's under-16 team and now makes a step up in Belgium.

Videos of possession-based drills from his Spurs training sessions recently emerged, suggesting the influence of Guardiola has rubbed off.

'When you play in front of the fans in a big stadium, people come to enjoy the games and I am definitely a person who likes to see their teams dominate, to have the ball and try to make a match of it,' he says of the style we can expect when he does land a top job.

He describes himself as a hands-off coach on the training ground who 'allows the players to make mistakes' before analysing what could be improved afterwards.

'The games and the training sessions have to look the same. When you play a tough game, how can I step onto the field and stop it? You have to let the players get on with it and later make your reflections.'

Of course, Toure draws on experiences from his own playing career to get across his message and methods to players.

'Football gave me so much, so I wanted to give it back again,' he says.

'Most of the Tottenham players didn't see me play at the time but sometimes I showed them some pictures or videos and explains how myself, Messi, or Iniesta developed.

'It was good because they were really interested and when I started explaining some story about me, I felt they were looking carefully and paying a lot of attention.'

Little wonder. That team featuring Toure, Messi and Iniesta wasn't at all bad.

Yaya Touré will give one lucky Prime customer and their three friends a football training session to learn perfect delivery this Prime Day.

Prime Members should check out www.amazon.co.uk/primeexperiences throughout 11th and 12th July to purchase.