And despite Messi's insane output, they didn't win the CL that year.
In fact they won it 2 out of 4 years under Pep (2 others were semi finals losing to the eventual winners) and in 6 seasons after that, they've won it once with 1 semi-final appearance.
Anyway, this is like the Messi v Ronaldo debate. Facing Pep's Barca was a daunting task, in a way that goes beyond result numbers.
Inter did it with the best defensive performance I've ever seen. Chelsea somehow hung in there and rode their luck massively, with Messi missing a pen and Cesc missing an open goal. No other European opponent managed it.
Real were repeatedly dominated, twice by historic margins,,and won only twice in those 4 years (across La Liga, CdR, and CL).
From 2006-08, Barca had a 0-2-3 record in Clasicos.
Under Pep, it was 8-1-2.
After Pep, it has been 7-3-5.
[not counting super cup, which would actually make the stats even better for Pep, and counting 2-legged matches as 1 result]