Ranked! The 50 greatest Barcelona players of all time

Barcelona
(Image credit: Future)

"Barcelona had history and culture, the coast, the weather, all wrapped around a wonderful football club that was the spiritual headquarters of a nation," Sir Bobby Robson said of the side he managed in the 1996/97 season. 

Robson was right. Catalonia's unique blend of art and passion has come to be represented at Camp Nou. 'Mes Que Un Club' – "more than a club" – is painted on the stadium's seats and it's more than just hyperbole. This is not just a football team but an institution.  So let's run through the greatest-ever half-century…

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50. Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure

(Image credit: Getty)

It's strange to associate the Manchester City legend with any other team these days, isn't it? But long before birthday cakes and Etihad screamers, the Ivorian was a schemer in the Barca midfield for Pep Guardiola, even slotting in at the back for the 2009 Champions League final. Barca never saw the heights he'd scale – but he was still magnificent for them.

49. Abelardo

He signed for 275m pesetas and Abelardo became an unlikely backbone in two league titles and two European trophies. His positional supremacy was unbelievable, seeing out the Cruyff years at the back before he was hampered with injuries. he left in 2002 for Alaves. 

48. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

Best goalkeepers

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A man who claims he doesn't particularly like football, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has been one of the best and most under-appreciated goalkeepers throughout his time in Catalonia. The German has been a pillar of reliability through Barcelona's financial crisis and looks like a building block of the Xavi era. He'll no doubt go down as a great when he leaves. 

47. Giovanni van Bronckhorst

Giovanni van Bronckhorst of Barcelona in action during the UEFA Champions League Quarter-final first leg match between Benfica and Barcelona at the Estadio da Luz on March 28, 2006 in Lisbon, Portugal.

(Image credit: Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

He's more talked about as Rangers manager these days – and who knows whether he'll face his former side in the Europa League – but Gio van Bronckhorst was one of the most underrated full-backs of a generation. Winning the Champions League at the expense of former side Arsenal was his highlight in 2006.

46. Gary Lineker

Barcelona striker Gary Lineker (r) gets in a shot as Hugo Sanchez of Real Madrid looks on during the 'El Clasico' between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou on January 31, 1987 in Barcelona, Spain.

(Image credit: Simon Bruty/Allsport/Getty Images)

Crisp flogger extraordinaire and the thorn in Alan Shearer's side during FA Cup matches on the BBC, Gary Lineker is still well-loved by Barcelona fans. He arrived after a World Cup in 1986 that he'd scooped the Golden Boot at – partly because English sides were banned from Europe – and scored 21 in his first season, the high point being a hat-trick in the Clasico. Linksy won win the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989, before Johan Cruyff's penchant for playing him out right forced him to come back to Blighty. 

45. Javier Mascherano

Javier Mascherano

(Image credit: Getty)

Javier Mascherano is not the most famous Argentinian to wear the Blaugrana colours – but he's one of the most important ones. A conventional Argentinian no.5 at Liverpool, the tenacious tackler adapted to become an excellent central defender and was a mainstay of the Barcelona side that swept all before them in the 2010s.

44. Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram (Barcelona) during the 2006 Joan Gamper Trophy match between FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich. | Location: Barcelona, Spain.

(Image credit: liewig christian/Corbis via Getty Images)

One of the most intelligent and celebrated defenders of a lifetime, Lilian Thuram didn't even play 60 games for Barcelona. His displays were imperious at the back for the club, however, injecting a touch of class that he brought over from Serie A. 

43. Eric Abidal

Eric Abidal

(Image credit: PA)

Even Maxwell arriving from Inter Milan couldn't force Eric Abidal out of the Barca team under Guardiola. The Frenchman was a player you could set your watch by and was adored by fans and teammates alike: perhaps best surmised when Carles Puyol let him lift the Champions League trophy at Wembley in 2011, following a liver tumour and transplant. A fitting gesture for a fantastic servant. 

42. Rafael Marquez

Rafael Marquez (L) holds the UEFA Champions League trophy with Aleksander Hleb at the Nou Camp stadium the day after Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League Cup final on May 28, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona beat Manchester United in the final in Rome.

(Image credit: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)

One of the longest-serving international footballers of all time, Barcelona got the best of Rafael Marquez, who started out as a centre-back before being moved into midfield and back again. Marquez was the last Frank Rijkaard signing to stay at the club into the Guardiola years, winning four LaLiga titles and two Champions League trophies in his time in Catalonia. 

41. Jordi Alba

Jordi Alba

(Image credit: PA Images)

It was plainly obvious at Euro 2012: Barcelona had made a mistake. Somehow, Jordi Alba slipped the La Masia net to end up at Valencia – but the left-back has returned to his home city to play over 400 times for the club who let him go as a youngster. One of the most consistent, energetic and dangerous left-backs of all time, Alba was a key component to Barca's success over 10 years. 

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Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.