Comparing the best Barcelona trios of this century

The trio failed to win any major honours

Without a hint of doubt, anyone can claim that Barcelona are the best team of this century. They have dominated domestic and European competitions, they have built amazing squads, they had and still have some of the best players in the world and they have numerous trophies to show for it.During this period of immense success, the Catalans have often had a trio perform outstandingly for them. For example, their current attacking trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar – often abbreviated as MSN, is ripping the opposition defense apart with their individual and collective talent.Barcelona have had such famous trios even before the advent of the 21st century and one of the most notable ones from the bygone era is from the club’s dream team during Johan Cryuff’s reign as manager.Romario, Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov formed a mesmerising attacking trio and they would lead the club to its first ever Champions League title. In recent years, Barcelona have had many such wonderful trios in their colours and here is a look at some of the best ones.

#1 Ronaldinho, Etoo and Messi

The trio failed to win any major honours

Lionel Messi was slowly integrated into the Barcelona first team by Frank Rijkaard, but he wasn’t a regular starter up until the end of the 2005/06 season. From the 2006/07 season onwards he got more first-team action as he replaced Ludovic Giuly in the right wing.

In the opposite wing was Barcelona’s talisman of that period – Ronaldinho, and Samuel Eto’o continued to be Rijkaard’s preferred man to lead this attacking line.

The trio didn’t play together for a long period due to an injury which sidelined Eto’o for about five months and several minor injuries to Messi as well, but when they did play together, they were on song.

However, the relevance of this trio ended with the season as Thierry Henry would join the Catalans in the summer, thus leading to a shuffle in Barcelona’s attacking department.

Ronaldinho was the pick of the players from this group as he racked up 24 goals and 14 assists in that season. Messi who now held a bigger role in the squad contributed very effectively with 17 goals and 2 assists from just 36 appearances. Eto’o, who missed a huge chunk of the season, still managed to score 13 goals and provided 11 assists.

This trio performed reasonably well for Barcelona in the short period they played together, but couldn’t lead the club to any major trophies as they lost the league title to Real Madrid on goal difference and crashed out of the Copa del Rey.

More importantly they lost to a resilient Liverpool side in the Champions League in the Round of 16 and Messi, Ronaldinho and Eto’o failed to score in both legs.

Rating: 6/10 - This trio was short-lived and didn’t win any major honours.

#2 Henry, Etoo and Messi

Eto'o, Henry and Messi gave Barcelona their first treble

In 2009, Pep Guardiola took over as Barcelona’s manager and one of the first decisions he took was to sell Ronaldinho. Guardiola switched to his famous 4-3-3 formation and his front three now comprised of Messi, Henry and Eto’o.

With Eto’o in the squad, Pep played Henry down the left wing – the position in which he started his career and Messi played down the right side. Pep’s use of inverted wingers was quite effective as it gave both players freedom to cut in and shoot with their favoured foot.

The trio played an important role in leading Barcelona to their first treble and that too in Guardiola’s first season as manager. They were also the first trio to score 100 goals before it became mainstream.

Messi led the scoring charts with 38 goals, closely followed by Eto’o with 36 and Henry’s 26 goals completed the century of goals. Messi also provided the most assists among these players with 16, followed by Henry with 11 and Eto’o with six.

The following season this trio was dismantled as Eto’o was sold to Internazionale and Henry’s game time was limited due to the emergence of Pedro.

Rating: 8/10 - Very successful, but wasn’t tested for a long period.

#3 Xavi, Iniesta and Messi

Messi thrived as a false 9 due to Xavi and Iniesta in midfield

Xavi, Iniesta and Messi is the only trio in this list which comprises of midfielders. This trio deserves a mention in the list because of the impact they had on the game especially during the Guardiola era.

Guardiola deployed Messi as a false nine for the first time in a league game against Real Madrid in May 2009. This move saw Messi link up effectively with the midfield players as he dropped deeper than normal forwards do.

The game finished 6-2 in favour of the Catalans with Messi scoring a brace and this was just the start of a beautiful link up between these three players.

Xavi and Messi would keep the ball immaculately, thus allowing the full backs and wingers to move forward. This, in turn, created space for the false 9 – in this case, Messi and the Argentine needs no invitation to punish an opposition when he is given space.

The two Spaniards didn’t assist many of the goals Messi scored, but it was the telepathic understanding between these three on and off the ball that made Barcelona immensely successful during the Guardiola era.

The importance of Xavi and Iniesta to Messi’s goal scoring success became evident when the Argentine struggled in front of goal for the national team.

The trio’s success didn’t go unnoticed as they were the top three for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or.

In terms of impact, success and longevity, this trio is arguably the best one Barcelona have had.

Rating: 10/10 – Extremely successful, changed the way the game was played and have won numerous individual and team honours.

#4 Messi, Villa and Pedro

Pedro, Messi and Villa scored a goal each in the 2011 Champions League final

After the departure of Eto’o and Henry in 2009 and 2010 respectively, Barcelona needed new players to fill in the big boots. Pedro stepped up from the academy and Barcelona signed David Villa from Valencia in 2010 to replace the outgoing stars.

Villa’s arrival meant that Messi would once again have to play down the right wing, but when Guardiola used his preferred system with Messi as the false 9, Villa was forced to play down the wings.

Despite the issue of having to force either Villa or Messi out wide, this trio was incredibly successful and would lead Barcelona to a league title and Champions League title in their very first season together. In fact, all three players would score one goal each in the 2011 Champions League final against Manchester United.

Pedro who became an integral member of the Barcelona squad at this point scored 22 goals and provided nine assists while Villa scored 23 goals and provided six assists. Their tallies were quite good, but Lionel Messi stole the show with 55 goals and 21 assists, thus taking the trio’s total to 98 goals.

The 2010/11 season was the only season in which this trio shone together as David Villa would miss a huge chunk of games in the next season due to an injury. Later, his game time also dipped due to the arrival of Alexis Sanchez who was better equipped to play on the wings than Villa, thus enabling Messi to continue operating as a false 9.

Rating: 7/10 – Won major titles, but didn’t last long and on top of that Messi did most of the scoring.

#5 Messi, Pedro and Sanchez

Messi did most of the scoring in this trio

Although Barcelona had a hugely successful trio in Messi, Villa and Pedro, in 2011 they signed Alexis Sanchez to increase the depth in the squad. The Chilean’s arrival and a lengthy period on the treatment table for Villa meant that the Spaniard would lose his place in the squad.

The pace and ability possessed by both Pedro and Sanchez to play down the wings enabled them to hold onto their starting roles. Pedro operated on the left-hand side, Sanchez on the right and Messi continued in his preferred role as the false 9.

This trio became the second Barcelona trio to score 100 goals collectively in one season but don’t let the figure give the impression that all three players contributed equally like in the case of Henry, Eto’o, and Messi.

The 2011/12 season was Messi’s best season in terms of goals scored as he found the back of the net 73 times in just 60 games. Sanchez found the back of the net 15 times and Pedro on 13 occasions to take the total tally of goals to 101 for their first season together.

Despite their goal scoring endeavours, the trio couldn’t lead Barcelona to a league title or champions league title in their first season like some of the other successful trios did. The only trophy they won in 2011/12 was the Copa del Rey.

Messi, Pedro and Sanchez played together for two more seasons, scoring 81 goals in both the seasons. But like in the 2011/12 season, Messi did the bulk of the scoring during these two seasons.

In 2014, Sanchez was sold to Arsenal and Pedro became a benchwarmer due to the arrival of Neymar and Luis Suarez in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Rating: 6/10 – Messi did the bulk of the scoring and even after three seasons together they didn’t win enough trophies compared to the other trios.

#6 Messi, Suarez and Neymar

MSN scored 122 goals in their first season together

Barcelona spent close to £150m pounds to recruit Luis Suarez and Neymar to reinforce their squad and it was a move that was received mixed responses initially, but after just over a year together they have cast aside any doubts about their ability to perform together.

Luis Enrique had a very tough job to make these three work together as they were all superstars and he also had to move Messi back to the right wing to play Suarez in his preferred role as a striker. Messi didn’t have a problem in switching positions and so far there seems to be no evidence of an ego clash between these players.

Enrique also changed the way Barcelona played and his move to play a more direct game by using the pace and dribbling skills of his front three helped these players to do better.

In their first season together, they led the club to a treble by scoring 122 goals and in the process they also broke the record for most goals by a trio which was held by Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain with 118 goals in 2011-12. This is despite Suarez missing two months of action due to his suspension.

What makes this trio stand out is their brilliant overall play and their selfless approach which has benefitted the team massively.

In addition to their goals, they also stood out from the other attacking trios with the sheer volume of their assists. Messi again leads the way with 26, followed by Suarez with 21 and Neymar with 7 in the 2014/15 season.

They have managed to carry their form into the current season as well. As of November 28, 2015, Suarez has 21 goals and 7 assists, Neymar has 16 goals and 8 assists and Messi has 9 goals and 6 assists despite missing nearly two months of football with an injury.

Incredibly the trio has also scored 124 goals for Barcelona in 2015 and no team in Europe has scored more than that.

This trio is so good that they are making all of Barcelona’s previous attacking trios look average and it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that this is probably the best attacking trio of all time.

Rating: 9/10 – There seems to be no weakness in their game at present. We just need to see how long they can keep the show going.

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Edited by Staff Editor