Ranking Barcelona's 5 best captains of all time
FC Barcelona are two of the most successful clubs in Spain. The Catalan giants have won every major trophy in club football and are the only side in Europe to win two trebles.
As expected, this remarkable football club have had some of the biggest icons setting the course for them. These leaders were not particularly brash or aggressive, they simply tried to become the best versions of themselves in Catalan colors.
Today, we will take a look at five such men who led the club with sincerity and passion; five players who stood for all-things-Barcelona.
Here are the five greatest captains in Barcelona history:
#5 Lionel Messi
Barcelona legend Lionel Messi picked up the captain’s armband after the departure of fellow La Masia graduate Andres Iniesta. Ahead of the 2018-19 season, Messi had the honor of wearing the armband and he did his best to make his club proud.
Messi, who scored 672 goals and provided 301 assists for Barcelona, was not necessarily known for his leadership skills. However, when push came to shove, Messi was always in the thick of things. The Argentine international was hardly the most vocal captain for Barcelona but he always led by example.
It has been reported that football megastar and Argentina captain Lionel Messi has already been announced as the winner of the upcoming Ballon d'Or 2021
His performances in the Champions League drew criticism, but those were more of a collective failure than individual blunders. Messi’s departure in the summer of 2021 has left a gaping hole in Barcelona’s attack and the club are far from finding a suitable deputy.
#4 Andres Iniesta
Breaking through Barcelona’s La Masia academy, Andres Iniesta made his first-team debut in 2002. The centre-midfielder was at the heart of Barcelona’s famous Tiki-Taka system, pulling strings and piercing defenses from the middle of the park.
With Carles Puyol and Xavi still in the team, Iniesta did not get the opportunity to become the club’s captain until the 2014-15 season. As vice-captain, Iniesta regularly led Barcelona in the absence of Xavi and eventually got the armband all to himself at the end of 2014-15.
Iniesta was not one for aggression, but his command on the pitch was second to none. He dominated the pitch with grace and knew just how to make his side tick.
🖥️ Iniesta: "Xavi fits perfectly. Not just because of what he knows about the club or the place, but because he's prepared for it. That's the most important thing, not for what Xavi represents but as a coach and how he's ready to take on this challenge." [bein sports] https://t.co/D8GbHObylU
Iniesta’s reign as captain was short, but the club won pretty much everything there was to win during his spell. After winning 30 trophies with the Camp Nou outfit, Iniesta moved to Japanese J-League side Vissel Kobe in May 2018.