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Barcelona are one of the most storied and successful clubs in the history of the game.
Over the years, many world-class players have played for the Blaugrana, etching their names in club folklore. Most of the club's success has come in the last three decades. Barcelona have won 16 of their 26 La Liga titles and all six European Cups (five in the Champions League era) in this period.
The Barcelona Dream Team of the early 90s under club legend Johan Cruyff truly put the club on the world map. They won four consecutive league titles and one Champions League, and never looked back.
After a brief lull towards the end of the century and early years of the 2000s, Barcelona rose like the proverbial phoenix. Under another club legend, Pep Guardiola, the Blaugrana attained even more success in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The club won three consecutive league titles and two Champions Leagues, including their first of two continental trebles during this period.
Unsurprisingly, many of the top players to have played for Barcelona played for the club in one of these two periods. On that note, here's a look at the top ten players in Barcelona history:
#10 Luis Suarez (1960 Ballon d'Or winner)
Luis Suarez (not to be confused with his Uruguayan namesake who also played for Barcelona) was one of the Blaugrana's first superstars.
The former Spain international was a prolific striker during his playing days between the 50s and 70s. Although he spent only six seasons at Barcelona, Suarez played a key role in their domestic double in 1959. The 86-year-old, though, failed to score as the Blaugrana fell to Benfica in the 1961 European Cup (now called the Champions League) final.
Nevertheless, before his European Cup exploits, Suarez won the Ballon d'Or award, becoming the Barcelona player to do so.
More than six decades later, Suarez, who scored over 60 goals for Barcelona, remains the only men's Spanish player to win the Ballon d'Or.
#9 Hristo Stoichkov (1994 Ballon d'Or winner)
Hristo Stoichkov was a prominent member of Barcelona's dream team in the early 1990s that conquered Spain and Europe.
One of Bulgaria's best-ever players, Stoichkov played a key role in the Blaugrana winning five La Liga titles in eight years and the 1991-92 European Cup. He enjoyed his most prolific campaign in 1993-94, scoring 24 goals across competitions as Barcelona won the domestic double.
Later that summer, Stoichkov led Bulgaria to a surprise run to the semi-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. A few months later, the Bulgarian became the third Barcelona player to win the Ballon d'Or.
During his successful seven-season stint at Camp Nou, the winger netted over 100 goals and provided 30 assists.
#8 Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique is one of the best active goalscoring defenders in the game at the moment.
The 34-year-old is a bonafide Barcelona legend, making almost 600 appearances for the club and winning trophies galore. Pique has won eight La Liga titles and two continental trebles with the Blaugrana. He recently became the joint-most prolific goalscoring defender in Champions League history as well.
The former Manchester United defender is one of a handful of players to have won the Champions League in successive seasons with two different clubs. Although he is seemingly on the decline now, Pique remains a key player under his former teammate and current Barcelona manager Xavi.
#7 Ronald Koeman (former Barcelona manager)
Ronald Koeman, like Stoichkov, was one of the key players of Barcelona's dream team of the early 90s.
The former Barcelona manager is one of the best goalscoring defenders in the game's history. Koeman, a set-piece specialist with a penchant of scoring from distance, used to operate as a 'sweeper'.
His tally of 86 goals for the club would put many attackers to shame. One of Koeman's strikes sealed Barcelona's triumph in the 1991-92 European Cup final, a year before the competition was rebranded as the Champions League.
Koeman scored a staggering 44 times in Barcelona's four successive La Liga triumphs between 1991 and 1994. That included an impressive 16-goal campaign in 1991-92, when Barcelona also won the European Cup.
#6 Ronaldinho (2005 Ballon d'Or winner)
Ronaldinho was one of the first bonafide Barcelona superstars of the 21st century. The ever-smiling Brazilian enjoyed a hugely successful five-season stint with the Blaugrana.
The 2005 Ballon d'Or winner scored nearly 100 goals and registered 76 assists in over 200 games across competitions. His ability to conjure magic at will enthralled the Barcelona faithful and opposition alike. That was evident when a Ronaldinho brace in El Clasico earned the Barcelona player a rare standing ovation from a partisan Santiago Bernabeu crowd.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup winner played a key role in Barcelona's successive La Liga triumphs in 2005 and 2006. The Blaugrana also won their first European Cup in the Champions League era that year.
#5 Luis Suarez (Barcelona's third-most prolific scorer)
Luis Suarez is another player who enjoyed huge success with Barcelona. Together with Lionel Messi (more on him later) and Neymar, the Uruguayan formed one of the most devastating attacking triumvirates in the game's history.
With nearly 200 goals in six seasons at the club, the Atletico Madrid striker is one of Barcelona's all-time top scorers.
After a 25-goal campaign in the Blaugrana's treble-winning 2014-15 season, Suarez exploded in 2015-16, amassing nearly 60 goals across competitions. That season saw Suarez become only the third player to score 40 goals in a La Liga campaign.
Barcelona deemed him surplus to requirements after a trophyless 2019-20 campaign. But Suarez proved them wrong, scoring 21 times to help Atletico Madrid win their first La Liga title in seven years.
#4 Johan Cruyff (three-time Ballon d'Or winner)
Johan Cruyff is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the game. Together with legendary coach Rinus Michels, Cruyff introduced the revolutionary 'total football' philosophy.
The late Dutchman made an immediate impact upon arriving in Barcelona in the 1970s. The then three-time European Cup winner helped the Blaugrana win their first La Liga title in almost a decade. That season also saw Cruyff score a wonder strike against Atletico Madrid.
Cruyff endeared himself to the Barcelona faithful by giving his son a Catalan name, Jordi. He won two of his three Ballon d'Or titles (73-74) while with the Blaugrana.
Years later, Cruyff returned to coach Barcelona's 'dream team' that swept four successive La Liga titles in the 90s and also won the European Cup. That made the Dutchman one of the few men to experience success on both sides of the touchline.
#3 Andres Iniesta (2010 Ballon d'Or runner-up)
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is one of the best players to have graced the game, especially since the turn of the century.
The diminutive midfielder had a sparkling career with the Blaugrana, making almost 700 appearances across 16 glorious seasons. Although he wasn't a prolific goalscorer, Iniesta has scored a few key goals for club and country.
One of them - a 90th-minute strike at Chelsea in the 2009 Champions League semi-final second leg - took Barcelona to the final. A few days later, Pep Guardiola's men became the first Spanish team to win the continental treble.
A nine-time La Liga, four-time Champions League, two-time European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner, Iniesta has a glittering resume. Together with his midfield partner Xavi (more on him below), the 2010 Ballon d'Or runner-up ran the show for the Blaugrana in the middle third.
#2 Xavi Hernandez (current Barcelona manager)
Xavi Hernandez is one of the best midfielders in the game's history. Period. The 41-year-old was the engine room of the Barcelona and Spain midfield during a hugely successful career for club and country.
The eight-time La Liga and four-time Champions League winner orchestrated play from the middle of the park like no one else. Xavi could slice open the tightest of opposition rearguards with precision inch-perfect crosses and passes.
With over 750 games, Xavi was Barcelona's all-time appearance maker before he was surpassed earlier this year by Lionel Messi.
Like Iniesta, the La Masia academy product didn't score too many goals, but laid out plenty of assists (185 as per transfermarkt) to teammates. Xavi, the current Barcelona manager, will look to return his boyhood club to their heydays after taking charge a few weeks ago.
#1 Lionel Messi (seven-time Ballon d'Or winner)
Where does one even start with the peerless Lionel Messi? The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is widely regarded as the best player to have graced the game.
A one-club man for almost two decades, Messi produced staggering exploits at Barcelona that are likely to stand the test of time. He registered 672 goals and 404 assists, both leading tallies by a country mile.
The ten-time La Liga, four-time Champions League and eight-time Pichichi trophy winner was the crown jewel of a star-studded Barcelona team in the late 2000s and 2010s.
Messi was widely tipped to retire at Barcelona. However, the Argentine had to leave the club this summer after the Blaugrana failed to renew his contract and is now with Paris Saint-Germain.
Nevertheless, Messi remains the greatest player to pull on a Barcelona jersey.
