The latest El Clasico is almost upon us and naturally it’s one of the biggest games of the season, the two titans of Spanish football in Real Madrid and Barcelona going head-to-head. Right now it’s hard to say which club has the strongest side – Madrid boast the talents of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale amongst others while Barcelona have their deadly trio of strikers in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
In the past, both teams have been home to some of the greatest players in the world, if not of all time, and interestingly enough Barca coach Luis Enrique actually played with a great number of them, both at Real and at his current club. Although he was at Madrid first, his greatest years were spent at the Nou Camp, where he made 207 appearances over eight seasons.
Given the importance of this upcoming El Clasico, here are five of the best players that Enrique shared the Nou Camp pitch with and would probably love to use in this weekend’s game.
#1: Ronaldo
Not Cristiano of course as he’s never played for Barca – I’m talking about the Brazilian legend Ronaldo, known somewhat derogatorily today as ‘Fat Ronaldo’ due to the fame of his Portuguese namesake.
Ronaldo only spent one season with Barcelona – 1996/97 – which feels odd because in my memory at least, he seemed to be there for years before his big-money move to Inter Milan. His impact during his time there probably makes it feel longer, though – he was literally a goal machine at the Nou Camp, scoring an insane 47 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions.
Ronaldo’s pace and power in leading Barca’s attack that year enabled them to win the UEFA Cup – he scored the winning goal in the final – the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de Espana. He was both the highest goalscorer in La Liga and the whole of Europe, and at 20, he became the youngest player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year.
The one thing he couldn’t do? Stop a Raul-led Real Madrid from winning La Liga. But in his prime, he was arguably better than any of Barca’s current front trio when it came to sheer goalscoring, and you can bet that Enrique would love to be able to call upon him for the upcoming El Clasico to attempt to catch Real this season.
#2: Rivaldo
Another great Brazilian who stood alongside Luis Enrique at Barcelona, Rivaldo spent five seasons at the Nou Camp where he was mainly deployed as perhaps the most dangerous attacking midfielder in the world at the time.
Renowned for his tremendous technique in all areas, but particularly his dribbling ability and shooting prowess, Rivaldo lead Barca to win a double of La Liga and the Copa del Rey in his first season there (1997/98) and then repeated the league win in 1998/99. His first season saw him hit 19 league goals, his second 24, and his fourth 23.
Despite not winning La Liga that year, perhaps his greatest achievement in a Barca shirt came in 2000/01. Going into the final game of that season, Barca were faced with Valencia, with the winners securing fourth place in the league and qualifying for the Champions League.
Rivaldo scored a hat-trick as Barca won the game 3-2, and his third goal is regarded as one of the greatest in history – an overhead kick from the edge of the box in the 90th minute of the game.
For his individual brilliance, goalscoring prowess and his ability to turn a game in an instant, Rivaldo is definitely the sort of player Luis Enrique would love to call upon for this El Clasico.
#3: Carles Puyol
While attacking Real is all well and good, with a frontline including Ronaldo, Morata, Bale and Benzema, it’s equally important for Barcelona to stop them from scoring goals, which means Luis Enrique would probably kill to have his old teammate Carles Puyol around to call upon.
In his prime, Puyol – able to play both as a central defender and on either side of the defence – was widely recognised as one of the best defenders in the world. He honed his craft through Barca’s La Masia youth system and played three seasons with the C and B-teams before breaking into the first team under Louis van Gaal.
Named club captain at the end of 2003/04 – replacing Luis Enrique himself - Puyol played under various managers in a long fifteen-season career at the club, but it could be argued that his peak years coincided with the peak of Barca – the Pep Guardiola-led, Lionel Messi-inspired conquerors of the late 2000’s.
Puyol was a tremendous leader, had great arial prowess, always showed composure on the ball and was the foundation that perhaps the greatest Barcelona teams built their success upon. The likes of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi may have gained more plaudits but Puyol’s ability to prevent goals being conceded was equally important.
A winner of basically every possible competition, Enrique’s old teammate would definitely come in handy in this El Clasico.
Also Read:5 players apart from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who could decide El Clasico
#4: Ronaldinho
While he ended his time at Barcelona under somewhat of a black cloud – sold to AC Milan after Pep Guardiola suspected he had more commitment to partying than he did to training – the impact Ronaldinho made in his early time at the Nou Camp means Luis Enrique would probably love to have him involved today.
Signed in the summer of 2003 when Barca lost out to Real in their pursuit of David Beckham, Ronaldinho made an immediate impact by scoring a tremendous individual goal against Sevilla in September. He scored 15 league goals that season although he only managed to inspire them to second position behind Valencia.
His second season was more successful – his silky skills lead Barca to their first league title since 1998/99, and he also captured the FIFA World Player of the Year, an award he retained the following year too as Barca also retained La Liga.
2005/06 was Ronaldinho’s best season at the Nou Camp – not only did he help Barca to win the Champions League for the first time since 1992, but he also became only the second player (after Diego Maradona) to be cheered by Real Madrid’s fans during an El Clasico, as he scored twice to help Barca win 0-3 at the Bernebeu.
In his prime Ronaldinho was one-of-a-kind, an incredibly skilled player who could both score and create goals. Luis Enrique didn’t play alongside many better than him.
#5: Luis Figo
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first – Luis Figo ended up being seen as almost a Judas figure by the Barcelona fans after his controversial 2000 move to Real, to the point where fans threw a pig’s head at him during his second El Clasico back at the Nou Camp.
Prior to that though he was simply tremendous at Barcelona. Signed for a paltry £2.25m in 1995, Figo helped Barca to win the now-defunct UEFA Cup-Winners Cup in 1996/97, and then La Liga in both 1997/98 and 1998/99. Starring alongside two of the Brazilians on this list – Ronaldo and then Rivaldo – Figo was recognised in this period as one of the finest midfielders in the world.
Able to play as a central midfield attacker as well as out wide, Figo could dribble with the best of them, cross with unnerving accuracy and act as a fulcrum for his team’s attacks from the playmaker position. Although some of this success came with Real Madrid, it says a lot that he remains second only to Lionel Messi in terms of directly assisting goals in La Liga.
While his reputation with the Barca fans ended up like dirt, he’s still one of the best players of his generation and you can bet your bottom dollar that he’d fit right into Luis Enrique’s Barca side today to have an impact in the upcoming El Clasico.
Also Read: 5 former Zinedine Zidane teammates that Real Madrid could use in El Clasico
