Top 5 Brazilians to have played for Barcelona
Brazil is widely regarded as the home of football talents due to the fact that the nation has produced many footballing geniuses in the past. Meanwhile, Barcelona, as one of the biggest clubs in Europe, has also been blessed with several world-class players who represented the club in fantastic fashion.
If you look into the club's history, you will discover that plenty of their biggest stars emanated from Brazil.
There is a powerful link between Barca and Brazilian players which I call the 'Brazi-lona link'. In fact, many Brazilian superstars favour a move to the Catalan capital at some point in their careers.
This is because the club serves as the home of success for these players in Europe with almost all the Brazilians that played for the Spanish giants having successful spells, winning trophies and several individual awards.
Therefore, let us quickly take a look at the top 5 Brazilians who have played for the Catalan club:
#5. Neymar Jr
Many people may criticise the Brazilian after he departed Camp Nou and headed for PSG, but he is truly one of the Brazilian legends that played for the Catalan giants.
He had already made a name for himself at Santos, where he was widely recognised as a big prospect, before heading to Barcelona in 2013. Neymar is one of the most skilful players on the planet.
At Barcelona, he made history, forming part of a formidable attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, popularly known as 'MSN', scoring goals and breaking records. He was extremely influential with his dribbling skills and ability to create chances for his teammates to score.
Besides, the arrival of Neymar made Barcelona a pro-attacking team and the MSN trio became the best attack in the world. Neymar was a big threat to defenders, tearing defences apart with his magical skills.
He was frequently fouled, thereby winning more free kicks and penalty kicks than any other player in the league. During his stay, Barcelona became very effective, using the counter-attacking system, with Neymar starting several of the attacking moves.
The Brazilian always stepped up when the team needed him. He helped the club make history by inspiring an historic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain when he scored 2 goals and assisted 1 in his side's 6-1 routing of the French club in the UEFA Champions League last season.
He is also one of the few players who has scored for Barca in the Champions League final, by bagging the last goal against Juventus to claim the trophy in 2015.
He won 10 trophies with the club, scoring 105 goals during his 4-year stay.