Greatest Barcelona players of all-time: Final Part
Xavi Hernandez (1998-till now)
Arguably, the diminutive midfield maestro is considered to be one of the best players ever produced from La Masia. He further improved on Pep Guardiola’s playing career as he won the European Cup and the World Cup for Spain. He has proven
to be an integral part of Spain and Barcelona. He was awarded to be the Best Player of 2008 European Championship and was among the top contenders for a similar title in this year’s World Cup in South Africa. The FIFA 2010 World Cup Spain went on to win the
tournament and Xavi was the person who orchestrated the journey for the champions. His presence is vital for both teams as his absence hinders both teams’ performances.
He might not be the flashiest players right now but his neat touches and smooth passing with great vision cuts defences lethally and is usually always involved in setting up goals for his teammates. His passing accuracy usually turns out
to be more than 85% at the end of a match.
Along with Iniesta, Xavi has formed one of the deadliest and effective midfield partnerships in football. When he hangs up his boots, Xavi would enter the record books as one of those very rare players who have won every single title at
international and club level.
Andres Iniesta (2002-till now)
The little man from Barcelona is now called San Andres by his fans all over the world after he scored two of the most decisive goals in football history. The first was when he scored a last-gasp winner against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
in the Champion League semi-final that put his team in the final which they eventually won against Manchester United and then a few months ago, he scored yet another last gasp goal in the World Cup final against Netherlands to win the World Cup for his team.
The media shy Iniesta is yet another player coming from the fabled academy of La Masia that is still producing the world’s finest players. Being a pint-sized player doesn’t make him stop running at the meanest of defences and causing havoc
and confusion with his close control. His market value is around 60 or 70 million pounds which is really not bad for a player who scores a goal once in a blue moon. His teammate Xavi has pronounced him as the most complete player in Barcelona and one thing’s
for sure; the duo is going to keep on being a thorn in any opposition’s path for at least 2 or 3 years.
Deco (2004-2008)
Jose Mourinho once called Deco as a world-class player as Barcelona brought the midfielder from F.C Porto in a part exchange with Barcelona-flop Ricardo Quaresma in 2004 as he helped F.C Porto win the Champions League in the previous season.
Just like Messi is important to Xavi, Deco’s presence was all the more important for Ronaldinho as Barcelona won the Champions League in 2004-05 and Deco became the first ever player to win back to back Champions League titles with two separate clubs.
Former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard once said, “Deco is the barometer of our squad, when he rises, our team’s performance rises and when he falls, the whole team is affected.”
In 2008, the Brazilian born Portuguese international moved to Chelsea under the-then Chelsea manager Luis Felippe Scolari but he never realized his full potential as he fell out of favour and eventually returned to his native Brazil to
play for Sao Paolo in 2010.
Those who missed out
Roman Riquelme (Argentina)
Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
Van Basten (Netherlands)
Luis Figo (Portugal)
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