Messi, Ronaldinho, Xavi: Who is Barcelona's best ever player?

Since the return of club legend Xavi Hernandez as boss in November, Barcelona have seen a dramatic upturn in their form.

Taking over from previous manager Ronald Koeman with morale around Camp Nou at rock bottom, Xavi has masterminded a significant resurgence at Barca, who are unbeaten in La Liga since December and now sit third in the league table.

The highlight of the former Spanish international midfielder’s reign so far, though, undoubtedly came this past weekend as La Blaugrana humiliated fierce rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Bernabeu.

Such a result would have been unthinkable during the disastrous reign of Koeman just six months earlier and is a clear indication that Xavi is on his way to restoring Barcelona’s reputation as one of the premier clubs in European football.

Nowhere is the sheer size of Barcelona’s legacy better illustrated than by looking back at the many icons of the game that have represented the club down the years.

In recognition of the recent El Clasico showdown, FourFourTwo took on the sizable task of ranking the 50 greatest players to step foot on to the pitch for Barcelona – and you can check out the seriously impressive list of legends below.

50. Yaya Toure

49. Abelardo

48. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

47. Giovanni van Bronckhorst

46. Gary Lineker

45. Javier Mascherano

44. Lilian Thuram

43. Eric Abidal

42. Rafael Marquez

41. Jordi Alba

40. Johan Neeskens

39. Paulino Alcantara

38. Hristo Stoichkov

37. Victor Valdes

36. Migueli

35. Patrick Kluivert

34. Ivan Rakitic

33. Sandor Kocsis

32. Thierry Henry

31. Josep Escola

30. Gheorghe Hagi

29. Pedro

28. Carles Rexach

27. David Villa

26. Evaristo de Macedo

25. Romario

24. Luis Suarez (Uruguayan striker)

23. Dani Alves

22. Neymar

21. Luis Suarez (Spanish