Barcelona is one of the most successful football clubs in history, the club has some of the best players of all time. The team has held a stronghold on European football for many years and has been the birthplace of some of the most iconic players the world has ever seen.
The 10 best Barcelona Players of All time are: 1. Lionel Messi, 2. Xavi, 3. Andres Iniesta, 4. Ronaldinho, 5. Johan Cruyff, 6. Ladislao Kubala, 7. Cesar Rodriguez, 8. Gerard Pique, 9. Carles Puyol, 10. Samuel Eto’o.
In this article, we will take a look back at the top 10 best players to ever wear the Barcelona jersey, taking into account their performances, goals, assists, clean sheets, appearances, and trophies.
1. Lionel Messi (2004-2021)
When it comes to the best Barcelona player of all time, Lionel Messi remains unrivaled. Many people regard him as the best player of all time. His statistics speak for themselves. Leo Messi has been wowing the veterans since he first stepped onto the field. Because of their similar playing styles, he is frequently compared to the great Diego Maradona. Messi has a total of seven Ballon d’Or awards to his name, including six European Golden Shoes. Messi had spent his 80% career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and four UEFA Champions Leagues.
No one comes close to the great Lionel Messi in terms of goalscoring, dribbling, and playmaking. If he continues to dominate in European football, he will have the most trophies at the end of his career. Lionel Messi has the most goals in La Liga (474), the most goals in a La Liga and European league season (50), the most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and the most assists in La Liga (192), a La Liga season (21) and the Copa America (17). During the 2011–12 season, he set La Liga and European records for the most goals scored in a single season, cementing his place as Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer.
Messi has 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barcelona. On top of that, he has 288 assists. If the Argentine continues to shine at the highest level, he has the potential to break countless records. He has more than 50 goals in nine different seasons. Messi’s ability to score goals is unrivaled. He is Barcelona’s best player of all time, and no other Barcelona player will be able to break his records in the future.
2. Xavi (1998-2015)
Xavi played 767 games for Barcelona for almost 17 years. He is now the second most ever most appeared player at the time. But this record has been surpassed by Leo Messi with 778.
The breakdown is as follows: La Liga (505), Champions League (157), Copa del Rey (70), UEFA Cup (13), Spanish Super Cup (14), European Super Cup (3), Club World Cup (1). (5).
Xavi was widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world in the early twenty-first century. Giving the ball to Xavi was essentially a cheat code: he could break down any defense with a feint, a shoulder drop, and the most perfectly timed pass. His vision has become legendary, and the fact that he rarely relinquished possession has almost been overlooked. Simply put, he always put the ball in a better spot than he received it.
Xavi won eight La Liga championships and four UEFA Champions League crowns. His passing and finishing abilities are exceptional. The Spanish international was a force to be reckoned with. From 2008 to 2013, he was named to the FIFA FIFPro World XI six times and to the UEFA Team of the Year five times. Xavi is ranked second among the top ten best Barcelona players of all time now he is serving as Barcelona manager.
3. Andres Iniesta – 22 years at Barcelona
Andres Iniesta is one of the best Barcelona players of all-time. Many consider him to be the best midfielder in the world. He arrived at FC Barcelona in 1996 as a native of Fuentealbilla, Albacete, after the Spaniard was one of the best players in the Brunete tournament (a historic U10 Spanish tournament). Another club legend, Victor Valdes, was one of his best friends in the Barcelona. He stood out in each of Barcelona’s youth teams before breaking into the first team under Louis Van Gaal in the 2002-2003 season. But it wasn’t until the 2004-2005 season when he was paired with Frank Rijkaard, that Iniesta was promoted to the first team.
Andres Iniesta’s career grew, as did the club’s titles, from that point until his departure in 2018. His performances in matches such as the 2009 Champions League semifinals against Chelsea, where his goal advanced Barcelona to the 2009 Rome final, or his match in the 2018 Copa del Rey final against Sevilla are among his best. Not to mention the goal he scored in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa, which gave the Spanish team the title of world champion.
From the mid-2000s to the end of the 2010s, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, and Leo Messi ruled football, establishing themselves as the best players in the world in 2010, when all three were on the Ballon d’Or podium. He was named UEFA Player of the Year in 2012.
4. Ronaldinho (2003-2008)
From 2003 to 2008, the Brazilian legend played for Barcelona. Ronaldinho won six titles during that time, including one Champions League and two La Ligas. In January 2018, Brazilian legend Ronaldinho announced his retirement from professional football. He is regarded as the mastermind behind Barcelona’s football rebirth at the turn of the century.
Ronaldinho was named the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year in September 2005, as well as being named to the 2005 FIFPro World XI and the 2005 European Footballer of the Year. Also that year, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time.
During his time in Catalonia, Ronaldinho established himself as one of the best playmakers on the planet, leading Barcelona to their first Champions League title in 14 years in Paris and winning the Ballon d’Or to boot. He is still as beloved today as he was then. Between Europe and America, Ronaldinho won two Spanish championships, two Spanish Super Cups, and one Champions League with Barcelona, while in America he won a Copa Libertadores and a Recopa Sudamericana with Atletico Mineiro.
5. Johan Cruyff (1973-1978 and 1988-1996)
Johan Cruyff was regarded as the best Barcelona player of all time in the world at the time. His immense talent earned him worldwide acclaim, and he won the Golden Ball award three times (1971, 1973, and 1974). Following lengthy negotiations with his former club Ajax, the Dutchman signed for FC Barcelona in August 1973. Cruyff burst onto the scene in his first season, using his technical brilliance and intelligence to help Barcelona win the league for the first time in 14 years in 1973-74.
Many images of the goal he scored against Athletico Madrid in Camp Nou, as well as the famous 0-5 victory over Madrid in the Bernabeu in 1974, will live on in the minds of the fans. In the following seasons, Barcelona only won the Copa del Rey once, in 1977-78. In 1978, Cruyff left the club. Cruyff in 1988, returned to the club as a coach and launched the best era in the club’s history, winning four league titles and the European Cup for the first time at Wembley Stadium in 1992 with the ‘Dream Team.’ Cruyff subsequently left the club in 1996.
He received two tributes at Camp Nou, the first when he left as a player on May 27, 1978, and the second when he coached the ‘Dream Team’ on March 10, 1999. In 1999, he was named Europe’s best player of the century, and in September 2006, he received the cross of Saint Jordi from the Catalan government. Cruyff died on March 24, 2016, after a battle with lung cancer.
6. Ladislao Kubala (1951-1961 and 1961-1963)
He was a key member of Barcelona’s successful team in the 1950s, scoring 281 goals in 357 appearances. During the club’s centenary celebrations in 1999, a fan poll named Kubala the best player to ever play for the Spanish club. As a player, he established himself as one of Barcelona Football Club’s legends. However, he did not have as much success as a coach, and his time with Barcelona was much shorter.
Kubala went on to coach other teams such as Murcia, Elche, and Malaga after looking for new incentives. He even coached a Swiss team as well as two Canadian teams. Later in his career, he was in charge of the Spanish national team for two seasons. He rejoined Barcelona Football Club in 1980, only to leave five months later. Kubala died on May 17, 2002, as a result of a long-term illness that had kept him in a Barcelona hospital since February of that year.
7. Cesar Rodriguez (1939-1955 and 1963-1964)
One of best Barcelona players of all time Cesar is a natural center-forward and an exceptional goalscorer, known for his powerful headers. He is one of the players who has scored the most goals for the Club. In the 1947-48 season, he led the Spanish League in scoring with 27 goals in 24 games. His strong headers and two-footed shot combined with fine dribbling skills and a fantastic never-say-die attitude in a player who was also a good reader of the game.
Older Barcelona fans recall great goals when he would suddenly appear in the box, latch onto a ball, and fire home after appearing to be deep. Cesar was known as a modest man despite being a true star of his time, and one press report stated, “Cesar is the most modest of players, but a maestro – the most complete player and a true one-off.” He was honored by the Club twice, both times at the Les Corts stadium, the first time on June 3, 1951, when he was still a Barcelona player, and the second time on September 10, 1958, when he was playing for Elche, when the tribute was held at the old field.
Cesar returned to FC Barcelona as coach in 1963, but his arrival coincided with a slump in the club’s fortunes, and he left at the start of the 1964-65 season. Until Messi overtook him, he was the Club’s all-time leading scorer in official games, with 232 goals.
8. Gerard Pique (2008-2022)
Gerard Pique has been a part of FC Barcelona since his birth on February 2, 1987. At the age of 10, Pique was accepted into the club’s U12 B division, and he subsequently moved up through the ranks of the youth system. In 2004, Pique left Barcelona to join Manchester United, and he was loaned to Real Zaragoza for the 2006-07 season. He came back to United for the 2007/08 season and was part of the team that won the Premiership and Champions League double.
Gerard Pique made his Barcelona debut on 13 August 2008 in the Champions League against Wisa Krakow, with the blaugranes winning comfortably 4-0. He quickly rose to first-team center-back and was instrumental in that season’s treble-winning team. In his second season, he cemented his reputation as one of the world’s best central defenders, and he continues to be an important member of the Blaugrana team ever since. Pique had an important skill for a defender in scoring goals, and he scored FC Barcelona’s 1000th goal in international competition in a game against Glasgow Celtic in the 2013/14 season. Pique also surpasses Carles Puyol with 594 appearances for Barcelona.
Gerard Piqué announces his retirement from football, saying Saturday’s game against Almería will be his last. Pique celebrates after scoring for Barcelona in the Champions League on October 20, 2021.
9. Carles Puyol (1999-2014)
Carles Puyol spent his entire football career with Barcelona, but he began with his hometown club La Pobla de Segur. He is one of the best Barcelona players of all time who made great promise in his early years. At the age of 17, he joined the FC Barcelona youth side and moved into La Masia. Puyol began to make regular appearances in the first-team squad after that, often starting at right-back.
Puyol had to wait until the 2004/05 season to win his first major trophy. He was the club captain and a key member of Frank Rijkaard’s side. During that, he won the league that season, with Puyol holding the trophy aloft in front of the Camp Nou crowd. The following season, Barcelona defended their league title and won the Champions League in Paris.
During Pep Guardiola’s tenure as coach, Puyol continued to play an important role in Barcelona. He was back four before the injury finally caught up with him in his final two seasons as a player. Only Xavi Hernandez had played more games for the Club in official competition. Puyol finally decided to hang up his boots. Carles Puyol’s career will be remembered for iconic gestures as well as trophies and individual accolades.
10. Samuel Eto’o (2004-2009)
He scored the winning goals in the Champions League finals in 2005-06 and 2008-2009. Samuel Eto’o is the all-time leading scorer in Africa Cup of Nations history, with 18 goals. He is Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer and third-most capped player, with 56 goals in 118 appearances.
He is the second player in history to have scored in both UEFA Champions League finals, which he won twice with FC Barcelona and once with Inter Milan. Eto’o has won 18 club and national team trophies, including the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002, as well as a Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympics. In his prime, Eto’o was regarded by pundits as one of the world’s best strikers, and he is regarded as one of the best African players of all time, Samuel Eto’o won the African Player of the Year award four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.
FAQs about TOP 10 Best Barcelona Players Of All Time
Lionel Messi is considered to be the best Barcelona player of all time. He has won 35 awards during his time at the Barcelona club, making him one of the most successful players in Barcelona’s history. Messi is also the all-time leading goalscorer for Barcelona, with 672 goals in 778 appearances.
Leo Messi is the most decorated player in history, having won the Ballon d’Or award six times at Barcelona, most notably during a four-year stretch from 2009 to 2012. He then won it again in both 2015 and 2019. And he win his 7th Ballon d’Or in 2021, but this time after joining PSG.
Puyol is regarded as one of the best defenders and captains of all time. He was a part of Barcelona’s “Dream Team” and helped the team win many trophies. Puyol is known for his leadership and ability to organize his teammates. He is also known for his tenacious defending and quick reactions.
Lionel Messi is the all-time top goalscorer for FC Barcelona with a total of 672 goals. He spent most of his career at the Barcelona club before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. Messi won the World Cup in 2022 with Argentina.
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