Ranking the 5 best Barcelona players of the Pep Guardiola era

Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team needs no introduction. After being appointed as the senior team's manager in 2008, Pep started filtering his side immediately. Guardiola offloaded some big names like Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o, Zambrotta and Giovani dos Santos.

Meanwhile, he recruited Dani Alves and Gerard Pique while promoting Sergio Busquets and Pedro from Barcelona's academy. The Catalan led Barcelona to a treble victory in his first season at the Camp Nou.

Pep led Barcelona to 14 titles in four years before moving to Bayern Munich. Guardiola is one of the most successful managers in the history of football. He introduced tiki-taka football to the world.

Under his watchful eyes, many players explored their own potentials. On the same note, let's take a look at

5 best Barcelona players of the Pep Guardiola era

Note: It is a very difficult task to pick top players under the Guardiola era and many big names had to be excluded with a heavy heart. Feel free to share your top 5 in the comments section.

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#5 Dani Alves

Alves walked in through the doors of Camp Nou in the summer of 2008

Dani Alves is one of the most decorated footballers of all-time. The former Barcelona and Brazil fullback was a regular part of his club and national side's trophy hunts.

Alves, who happens to be the most successful footballer of all time (in terms of trophy counts), has won the majority of titles with his Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. The Brazilian international was signed by Pep Guardiola from Sevilla as part of his revitalisation of the club.

Alves walked in through the doors of Camp Nou in the summer of 2008, the same year as his coach Pep Guardiola. Together they conquered Spain and all of Europe and added 14 trophies to the cabinet within just four years.

Pep Guardiola considers Alves one of the best players he has coached.

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#4 Sergio Busquets

He was a key cog in Pep Guardiola's tikitaka style of football

Sergio Busquets is a silent player. Spain's 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euro fame, manager Vicente del Bosque once said,

“If you watch the game, you don’t see Busquets. But if you watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”

True to his statement, Sergio Busquets doesn't end up on the scoresheet quite often but he is capable of controlling the tone of the game single-handedly. The same makes him one of the most under-appreciated players ever. An integral part of national and club sides, Busquets endured most-successful tenure with Pep's Barcelona.

He was a key cog in Pep Guardiola's tiki-taka style of football. From being a traditional defensive midfielder, Sergio Busquets evolved as a clinical passer under the guidance of his boss Pep Guardiola.

Even after Pep's departure, Busquets remains an influential figure at Camp Nou.

#3 Xavi Hernandez

Xavi played a pivotal part in Barcelona's first-ever treble back in 2009

Xavi Hernandez was part of the club way before Pep Guardiola arrived. Being one of the most skilled La Masia recruits, Xavi went on to have a shining career with Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

During Pep Guardiola's tenure at the Camp Nou, Xavi went on to form a lethal pair with Busquets and Iniesta. They established one of the most dangerous midfield units in the history of the sport.

Along with countless club and national successes, the Spaniard also entered the Ballon d'Or podium on numerous occasions. He played a pivotal part in Barcelona's first-ever treble back in 2009.

Xavi applied the lessons learned from Pep Guardiola during his national outings and helped Spain grab numerous international trophies.

"From the first moment I saw him play, I knew he would become the brains behind Barcelona for many years to come.", Pep Guardiolaont Xavi.

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#2 Andres Iniesta

Iniesta was handy for Pep Guardiola on the attacking front

What separates Iniesta and Xavi's almost similar careers is the former's tad-bit superior attacking minded football. While being at par with Xavi in terms of controlling the game from the center of the park, Iniesta was more handy for Pep Guardiola on the attacking front.

Despite facing injury woes during Pep's first season at Barcelona, Iniesta did not let it taint his performance. His creativity and eagle vision inspired Pep to implement the famous tikitaka with Iniesta as the hub.

During Pep's reign, Iniesta came close to the Ballon d'Or thrice (2010, 2011 and 2012) and ended up on the podium on two occasions (2010 and 2012). Andres Iniesta went onto establish himself as one of the finest midfielders not just in Barcelona but all over the world.

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#1 Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is the best player to have played under Pep Guardiola

Without much of a surprise, Lionel Messi undoubtedly remains the best player to have played under Pep Guardiola and grabs the top spot.

Not much needs to be said about the Guardiola-Messi duo. The fact that the latter's back-to-back four Ballon d'Or trophies between 2009 and 2012 coincide with Pep's stay at the Camp Nou explains it all.

Lionel Messi played a massive role in Pep's Barcelona achieving limitless success. Even though Messi made it into the senior team four years before Pep's arrival, it was under the Catalan boss that the Argentine flourished.

In 2012, which also happens to be Guardiola's last season with Blaugrana, Messi broke several records. Him becoming Barcelona's all-time top scorer is the most notable amongst those. Leo finished the season with 73 goals across all competitions.