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One of the greatest clubs in the world, FC Barcelona has been blessed with lots of great talents both in the past and currently. They had some of the best goalscorers who set several amazing records with their brilliant finishing and won lots of individual awards.
Many awesome creators with magic touch as if there were magic wands inside their boots all plying their trade in the Catalan Capital, dominating possession in fashionable manners and destroying the opposition with almost every touch.
Behind these players stood the mightiest and fiercest sets of defenders that provided the balance needed in the team's structure. They defended like hungry lions, avoiding the opposition from getting into their territory with brilliant runs and excellent tackles.
From players like Antoni Torres, Miguel Bernardo down to Ronald Koeman, the club has maintained a hierarchy of world-class defenders.
The list below contains top five of the greatest defenders in the club's history. Check them out:
#6 Miguel Bernardo
Miguel Bernardo was a player with immense physical power. He was nicknamed Tarzan and was well recognized for his spell with Barcelona, which lasted for about 20 professional years. He had 549 appearances for the Catalan giants during his time at the club.
He won many trophies including the La Liga, UEFA Cup Winners Cup, Copa de La Liga, Copa del Rey, La Liga and Supercopa de Espana in a glorious career. Besides, he also won the Spanish Best Player on two occasions, 1978 and 1985 respectively.
His contribution at the back was solid and his hard work was superb. He stood like a rock in the defensive zone, making it very difficult for even some of the finest attackers of his time to get past him. He will always be remembered fondly by the Blaugrana faithful.
#5 Dani Alves
Dani Alves is one of the most successful Brazilian defenders in history, winning an astonishing 34 trophies in his career so far. He is also one of the greatest defenders who has worn the Barcelona jersey. One of the pioneers of the Barcelona golden era, he won lots of trophies for the Blaugranas including a historic treble in 2009.
He is one of the strongest and most intense right-sided defenders in the world and covers an amazing amount of ground. He joined FC Barcelona during the summer transfer window in 2008, after spending six years with Sevilla.
He is a tireless runner who is able to run up and down the wing contributing heavily to the attack, without ever forgetting his defensive roles. He linked up well with the team, moving to and fro to support Lionel Messi excellently in attack.
He had 20 goals and 74 assists to his name in 293 appearances for the Spanish side.
#4 Rafa Marquez
The former captain of the Mexican National football team became the second player from the Mexican soil to play for the Blaugrana. Even with the rise of Jonathan dos Santos, it is almost definite that none of his other countrymen will ever match his level of success with FC Barcelona.
A centre-back pretty much like Ronald Koeman, he is a very fine footballer, both with and without the ball. Like Ronald, Marquez’s ability to feed the Blaugrana with long-balls proved to be valuable when Barca’s midfielders were seriously marked out of the game.
Marquez is also an awesome free-kick taker, a fact that is easily overlooked since the Spanish club have never been short of free-kick specialists. He also holds the prestige of being the most-capped non-European Player in the history of the club.
#3 Ronald Koeman
Barca and the Dutch go hand in hand, the presence of Ronald Koeman should, therefore, not come as a surprise. He is another former Ajax player who later became a Barca legend.
His all-time goalscoring record is 225 league goals in 647 official appearances. This record surpasses the efforts of many modern-day strikers. Although he was a defender, he scored like a striker. He was a big motivation for the team as most of his goals came at the vital moments and helped win lots of matches.
As a free-kick specialist, he scored 106 goals during his six-year spell with FC Barcelona. But not only was he a dead-ball specialist, he was also acknowledged for his amazing long-balls which usually set-up an attack or directly assist a goal.
His stats would really put the best of attackers to shame and he could be easily mistaken as a midfielder but he was really a defender. Barca’s current defenders haven’t scored 106 goals combined, Koeman did that in six years!
#2 Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique is one of the most successful graduates of Barcelona's famed academy, La Masia. He contributed greatly to the club's success in recent years winning plenty of trophies. He is a strong force at the back with supreme aerial ability and has often scored with his head.
He formed a defensive partnership with club legend, Carles Puyol at centre-back and was very instrumental during the Blaugrana's most successful decade. He has been in the club since 2008 and is one of the club legends actively playing for the Catalan giants. Due to his achievements and contributions, he is regarded as one of the greatest players in the club's history.
#1 Carles Puyol
Passionately dubbed the Caveman, Captain Catalunya, Puyol was the very heart and soul of FC Barcelona. Nobody is more dedicated to the colours of Barcelona than the Catalan centre-back, who united with the La Masia football academy relatively late as an 18-year-old teenager.
Initially starting his Blaugrana-career as a right-back, he has been selected to the UEFA Team of the Year in no less than 5 times. He is one of the most decorated and successful Barca captains of all-time. Even when he was entering into the final stages of his career, he showed no signs of being tired of the fantastic game.
The long-haired Catalans legend's versatility to play in any position across the back four makes him an invaluable asset. Pretty much a living legend, Puyol will never be known to be a flashy footballer, but one of the fiercest centre-backs to ever play the game in history.
He may also be remembered as the leader of the greatest Barcelona side of all time (perhaps the greatest squad in club football), his contributions and importance to his dear team cannot be overstated.
