Throughout the history of football, we have witnessed countless clubs come and pass by. But there has been no other club like the La Liga giants Barcelona. The contribution of the club to the game is insane. It is a major reason that the world of football is molded into the shape it is in right now.
The gameplay and the strategies that this club introduced, left everybody stunned and changed the game forever. They played an important role in the evolution of this game from the very beginning.
They have produced players of world-class levels and sometimes even players completely out of this. From the greatest of all time Lionel Messi to super aggressive Luis Suarez, Barca has given us many legendary players.
Let us take a look at some of these Barca superheroes and deduce the Top 10 players in Barcelona history.
10. Samuel Eto’o
One of the most important and influential figures of the last two decades, Samuel Eto’o Fils makes it to the top 10 player list for La Liga club Barcelona. Eto’o finished third in the race for the FIFA Player of the year award in 2005.
Samuel graduated from the Real Madrid youth academy to his Senior Career with the team. However, the player spent the majority of his senior career with the arch-rivals Barca. He played a total of 199 matches for the team and scored a total of 130 goals in them to become one of the top goalscorers for the club of all time.
9. Carles Puyol
Having spent his entire senior career serving the same team is more than enough to declare Carles Puyol as Barcelona’s one of the greatest players. Carles played for Barcelona for 18 years and was one of their integral players.
Puyol even spent his time training at Barca’s youth academy before moving on to their senior team. While his stay with Barcelona, the Spaniard played a total of 593 matches and scored 18 goals being a defender.
8. Ronaldinho
One of the greatest Brazillian talents of all time, Ronaldinho became an instant superstar as soon as he hit the field. His supreme playmaking skills and dribbling skills were unrivaled and he scored goals nobody would have ever imagined in his time.
Ronaldinho played for many clubs but the majority of his success comes from his time with Barcelona and his performance for his country. In his 5 years with Barca, Ronaldinho played 207 matches and scored 97 goals for them.
7. Johan Cruyff
Having made a great contribution to Ajax in his initial senior career, Johan was signed by the La Liga club Barcelona. His transfer had no effect on his performance and in no time, Johan stood up to become one of the best players in the region.
Cruyff contributed 5 years of his career to Barcelona. In these five glorious years, he appeared in a total of 227 matches and scored 85 goals while at it.
6. Andres Iniesta
When we speak about Barcelona, it is unfair if Andres Iniesta’s name doesn’t come up. The Spaniard spent 18 years of his senior career playing for the club, making plays that led to victory for them on numerous occasions.
Having played in Barca’s youth academy he was an instant hit as soon as he entered the senior men’s team. He soon became one of the greatest midfielders Barcelona has ever witnessed. He played a total of 674 matches for the club and scored a total of 57 goals before leaving in 2018.
5. Laszlo Kubala
One of the most prominent players in the 50s, Laszlo Kubala played for Barcelona for a decade and gained a lot of success for himself and his team. With him, the team won the La Liga title a total of 4 times in 10 years.
Laszlo also ended up in fifth place for the Balon d’Or award in 1957. From 1951-1961 Kubala served Barcelona in 186 matches and scored 131 goals in them.
4. Luis Suarez
Suarez is one of the most influential footballers of the recent generation. His contribution to the game and the teams he has played in is insane. Suarez played for Barcelona for around 6 years and became one of their ace players.
He led the team to victory in 4 La Liga titles and a Champions League title in 2015. The Uruguayan star player appeared in 283 matches for Barcelona and scored a total of 198 goals for them which also makes him their third-highest goalscorer of all time.
3. Xavi
Playing alongside Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta we used to see the current Barcelona manager Xavi as part of the dynamic trio. Under Xavi’s watch, the team won 8 La Liga titles.
Xavi made it to the top 3 in the Balon d’Or award on multiple occasions. He is the player with the second most appearances for the club with the total appearances going up to 767. He scored 85 goals in them as a midfielder for the team.
2. Cesar Rodriguez
Even before Laszlo Kubala, there was a player who had made a name for himself as Barcelona’s best player in the 40s. The Spaniard won the Pihichi trophy for his exceptional performance in the 1948-49 season.
With him, Barcelona won a total of 5 titles. In his 16 years of stay with the club, Cesar appeared in 351 matches and scored a total of 232 goals in them.
1. Lionel Messi
It comes with no surprise to see Lionel Messi on any list related to the club statistics. Messi’s contribution to the game and the team is out of this world. The prodigy from Barcelona’s youth academy instantly found his mainstay striker spot in no time.
He single-handedly took Barcelona to victory on countless occasions. This seven-time Balon d’Or winner took Barcelona to victory in 10 La Liga titles. In his 16 years with the main Barca team, Messi featured in 778 matches to become the player with the most appearances for the club.
His contribution doesn’t stop here as Messi came up to also become Barcelona’s all-time leading top scorer with 672 official goals for the club on his name.
