Ranked! The 50 greatest Barcelona players of all time

10. Michael Laudrup

Michael Laudrup joined Barcelona because he adored Johan Cruyff when he growing up. The Dane would become one of the most exciting footballers on Earth under his hero's tutelage – before falling out with him and completing a controversial move to Real Madrid.

But that shouldn't take away from the fact that Laudrup was one of the most elegant and effortless footballers of a generation in any position that he played. He was one of the most technically gifted of the Dream Team, with vision, speed and passing that was on a different plain to so many of his contemporaries. Without him, Cruyff's side would maybe still have won four LaLigas, the European Cup and plaudits from all corners – but it would've felt a little emptier: like it was missing one of its most influential artist's strokes from its canvas.

9. Cesar Rodriguez

Cesar Rodriguez was perhaps Barcelona's very first superstar. He managed reach double-figures in goals in 11 seasons and whether he was helping keep the team in the league or leading them to titles, he was vital.

A key member of the side that won five trophies in 1951/52, he managed to help drag Barca from the bottom to the top too, like no other player has done since: and reports say he dazzled, with an ability to score corners and a prolific touch that no one had ever seen in Catalonia. 232 goals in 351 appearances makes him one of the greatest to ever do it in Blaugrana colours. 

8. Ronald Koeman

He's maybe underrated, simply for his poor stint as manager but it's hard to imagine Barcelona in its modern form without Ronald Koeman. 

And not just because the Dutchman scored their first-ever European Cup win. A sweeper with unbelievable vision and incredible shooting from distance, Koeman is the top-scoring defender in world football with 90 goals in all competitions at Barca. He added style to Cruyff's team after signing from PSV and is quite simply one of the most outstanding all-round footballers to ever play. 

7. Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o was the complete striker. So few could be so deft on the ball, so intense off of it. And he was utterly perfect for Pep Guardiola: he helped inform the direction that the Catalan would go in with his attack.

Widely considered the greatest African footballer ever, Eto'o had put Barca on his back long before Pep arrived, guiding them to the 2006 Champions League final and being the consistent spark of brilliance through the darker periods. He was an integral member of the front three he formed with Messi and Henry, too, showing the selflessness and intelligence to give the other two space when needed. 

6. Diego Maradona

He's arguably the greatest footballer of all time. He's worshipped at Boca Juniors and Napoli. But though Diego Maradona trashed the Camp Nou trophy room, got in fisticuffs with opposing players and didn't live up to his majestic heights at Barcelona, he's still one of the most otherworldly presences to ever grace their team. 

In just two years at Barca, he created moments to become mythologised: becoming the first player ever applauded by Real fans in a Clasico, reducing training sessions to the rest of the team standing and watching him and winning three cups in 1983. Maradona ensured that Barcelona was a place for the truly spectacular. His return of 38 goals in 58 Barca games isn't quite testament to quite how much genius he sewed in Spanish football. 

5. Ronaldinho

The showman Ronaldinho was the last of the Three R's to light up the Camp Nou. He did it quite unlike the other two. 

A £21m signing from PSG, Ronnie was expected to inject a bit of fun back into the Barca side – and though he was always there for a flick, a trick, a back-heel or even a hip wiggle (prior to that goal againt Chelsea), his output was hugely underrated. This wasn't just a performing seal from the Nike ads.

Ronaldinho became one of the best playmakers on Earth during his time in Catalonia, leading Barca to their first Champions League trophy in 14 years in Paris and scooping a Ballon d'Or for good measure. He is still as adored now as he was back then. 

4. Johan Cruyff

Pundits, analysts and football nerds fawn over the Dream Team, the diamond midfield and Johan Cruyff's contribution to coaching so much that they sometimes forget just how much of a genius he was on the pitch.

It's similar to how the Cruyff Turn is replayed at every World Cup – yet the flying backheel he scored to meet a cross with against Atletico Madrid is perhaps the greatest goal you've never seen. And the Dutchman was full of these moments. He had vision, versatility, guile, passing ability and the eye for something that no one had ever witnessed: he was quite simply one of a kind and the marriage of football's greatest artist with a city of such culture was a match made in heaven. 

Were it not for his on-pitch exploits, the history of Barcelona would look very different indeed. Johan Cruyff changed football – and the Camp Nou was blessed to be his stage for so many of his most wonderful moments. Just two trophies in his playing days there don't do justice to quite what a force he was. 

3. Andres Iniesta

"He has masterminded some of football's finest heists, but his fingerprints are rarely found at the scene," author Musa Okwonga once said of Andres Iniesta. It's the perfect description of a man who scored fewer goals at club level than John Terry. 

The Spaniard first made himself known to European audiences by coming on in the 2006 Champions League final and changing the game. His directness, dribbling, touch and movement has become legendary, with mentor Pep Guardiola assessing that "his mastery of the relationship between space and time," is second to none.

Because though Iniesta was rarely the full stop at the end of the move, he was everything that Cules hold dear. He was beautiful to watch, looked after the ball like his life depended on it and played the game with such grace that he made it look like ballet. Plenty have tried to replicate him: none ever truly will. 

2. Xavi

Xavi might well be La Masia's proudest product: the complete midfielder in its considerably cultured image. A metronome of the game who was schooled in the Barcelona way from the age of 11 and stood on top of the world to represent the club.

Giving the ball to Xavi was basically a cheat code: he would unlock any defence with a feint, a shoulder drop and the most perfectly measured pass. His vision has become legendary that the fact that he so rarely relinquished possession has almost become underrated. Quite simply, he always put the ball in a better place than the place he received it. 

Jorge Valdano once said that "If football was a science, Xavi would have discovered the formula." There may never be a footballer with quite such a combination of intelligence, delicacy and awareness. He is the very model of everything the club aspire to. 

1. Lionel Messi

The numbers of his career have to be seen to be believed. 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barcelona. 228 assists on top of that. 10 domestic titles, four Champions Leagues, seven Ballon d'Ors, six European Golden Shoes and eight hat-tricks in Europe (a joint record with you know who).

We often talk of Messi's achievements through pure numbers – and perhaps that's how he sees the game, crunching the angles as he glides through defenders. But it doesn't do justice to the magic that he's given to Barca fans along the way. The last-minute Clasico goal in which he held his shirt aloft at the Camp Nou. Putting Jerome Boateng on his backside. The Getafe goal. The move to false nine. The 2011 Champions League final performance. The countless moments he did something that no one else could.

And that's just a few. He's not only Barcelona's greatest player ever, he's the most talented person to ever lace up their football boots, having changed the game one shoulder drop at a time.