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FC Barcelona are one of the most successful and storied clubs in all of football. The club was founded in 1899 and after dominating the regional leagues in its initial years, the club started struggling as a lot of their players left for military duties after the start of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Despite the difficult political situation, the club enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 50s.
The club was led by Kubala in the 50s and later by Cruyff in the 70s. After Nunez got elected as the club's president in 1978 he started the youth program (now called La Masia) which became the backbone of the "Dream Team" in the 90s meaning the club ended the century on a high. For the most part of the century, Barcelona saw footballing legends grace the club since its establishment in 1899. Today we look at probably the best Barcelona XI to grace the pitch in the 20th century.
#Goalkeeper
Antoni Ramallets
It was a hard choice choosing between Antoni Ramallets and Andoni Zubizarreta. Zubizarreta would go on to keep a clean sheet in the 1992 European Cup final while the other scored an own goal in a 3-2 loss to Benfica in 1961 European Cup final. The Catalan would go to appear for the club 573 times and won the League 6 times in the '50s. Ramallets won the Zamora trophy 5 times and was the emblem of one of the most golden eras in the history of Barcelona, the "Five Cups".
#Defenders
Ronald Koeman
In 1989, Koeman re-joined his former Ajax coach Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, where he became a member of the famous "Dream Team". Koman scored 106 goals during his 6 years stay in Barcelona and scored in 1992 European Cup final to give the club its first European Cup. Ronald Koeman currently holds the record for 25 consecutive successful penalty conversions in La Liga.
Miguel Bianquetti
Carles Puyol was always called Tarzan by Barca fans and it was because he resembled Miguel who had the same nickname. The all-action center back played 548 games for Barcelona until his retirement in 1989. He was at the club for so long that he played alongside Johan Cruyff, and he was still playing for them when Cruyff became the first team coach.
Sigfrid Gracia
The left-back was a regular under all his coaches during his time in Barcelona, his one and only club. Even by today’s standards, he was playing a massive amount of games each season. The official Barcelona website quotes Gracia played around 50 games per season, during the '50s and '60s when you had not the service of physios or an excellent medical team that has become the norm today.
Joan Segarra
Known as the Great Captain, Segarra was one of the most charismatic players in the history of FC Barcelona. He was brave and dedicated and would never stop yelling encouragement to his teammates The legendary defender was part of the "Barca of the Five Cups" in the 1950s and is one of the players who has made most appearances for the club.
#Midfielders
Johan Cruyff
Cruyff arrived at the club in 1973 after the ban was lifted on Spanish clubs from signing foreign players. Legal wrangles meant he only debuted at the end of October with Barca one off the bottom. He lashed his first goal into the top corner in his first game against Granada and Barca didn't lose again all season. He had chosen Barca over Real Madrid despite the latter reaching an agreement with Ajax and he delivered Barca's first league in 14 years at the end of that first campaign.
Micheal Laudrup
Laudrup had an elegance that inspired Andres Iniesta and he showed it throughout the early nineties as Barcelona won their first European Cup and four titles. He had his own trick – the 'Croqueta' which involved him playing the ball off of one of his own feet with his other foot, usually leaving his opponent on his backside. In the end, he left the club for Real Madrid and tarnished his legacy as probably one the greatest Blaugrana player.
Pep Guardiola
Pep today might be known as the world's best manager but he was during his playing days one of the best of his generations. The original Busquets won 6 League titles before going on to become one of the world's best managers. He also won Barca's first European Cup, then La Liga, and then Olympic Gold in his home city, all in the space of a month in 1992. A number of future Barcelona midfielders, including Xavi, Iniesta, and Fabregas have hailed Guardiola as their role model and hero.
#Forwards
Ladislao Kubala
So many people wanted to see Ladislao Kubala play Barcelona in the 1950s that they had to build a new 93,000 capacity Nou Camp to replace their old 60,000 capacity Camp de Les Corts. He scored 194 goals and won four leagues as well as playing in the 1961 European Cup final Barcelona lost to Benfica. Kubala might have died in the 1949 air disaster that killed the great Torino side of the forties. He was supposed to be representing them in a friendly against Benfica in Portugal but pulled out for family reasons and it saved his life enabling to him to go on to write his name in the history books of Barcelona.
Paulino Alcantara
Born in the Philippines in 1896 but with a Spanish father, Paulino Alcantara moved to Barcelona when he was three years old and would grow up to be a Barca great, scoring 357 goals in 357 games. Nicknamed 'the net-buster' he retired a year before the league was formed but did win five Spanish Cups before quitting age 30 to finally dedicate himself to medicine.
Pepe Samitier
The third-highest goalscorer in Barca's history with 326 goals, Pepe Samitier made his debut for Barcelona in 1919 aged 17 and played for the club for 13 seasons. He won two leagues and was nicknamed 'the Grasshopper' and 'the Magician' – long in the leg but not short on spellbinding skill. He also won silver with Spain in the 1920 Olympics, played a season for Real Madrid, and returned to Barca as a coach, managing the club for three seasons winning another Liga title.
