Barcelona: Picking a Blaugrana All-Time Best XI

Barcelona are a prestigious club and the world has enjoyed watching them for many decades.

They've always been a top European club, thus attracting top players, and the Blaugrana fans have been spoilt in witnessing some of the very best the game has ever offered.

Whether it's offensive trickery or defensive solidarity, the Nou Camp has been home to the best in the business.

So who would feature in Barcelona's all-time XI?

Honourable Mentions

Michael Laudrup

Joan Segarra

Cesar Rodriguez

Antoni Ramallets

Migueli

Paulino Alcantara

Victor Valdez

Julio Alberto

Andres Iniesta

Dani Alves

Diego Maradona

GK: Andoni Zubizarreta

Barcelona have had some fantastic goalkeepers over the years, but I've opted for Basque native Andoni Zubizarreta here.

He safeguarded the net for eight solid years and was present to lift the European Cup when the Blaugrana finally topped Europe for the first time.

With 126 international caps for Spain, Zubizarreta has only very recently been overtaken by current No. 1 Iker Casillas in the records.

He picked up four Spanish league titles and two Spanish Cup wins over the course of his Barcelona career amongst various other awards.

DR: Albert Ferrer

Albert Ferrer, a member of the famous "Dream Team," has a massive trophy collection and simply excelled under manager Johan Cruyff.

From 1990-1998, Spanish right-back Ferrer maintained a first-choice berth in the defensive line and helped the team to four consecutive La Liga titles and one European Cup.

His recognition in the national team didn't match his domestic achievements, as he only amassed 36 caps—despite representing his country in two World Cup tournaments.

DC: Carles Puyol

Carles Puyol is the ultimate defender.

His strength and dominance in the air is unrivalled, his reading of the game exceptional.

He has even showed versatility in his game, developing a now-apt ability to play on the right side of defence when necessary.

He's been a mainstay in the Barcelona defence for his entire career, yielding so many trophies it's difficult to keep count. Winning the World Cup with Spain was a deserved reward for his consistent brilliance over the last decade.

Would you bet against him adding to that collection, even though he's getting on in years? Not a chance.

DC: Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman is perhaps Barcelona's greatest ever defender, trumping Carles Puyol to that title.

He was part of the Dutch dominance Johan Cruyff brought in and his surging runs represented a relatively new style of defending for the time.

His free kicks were, of course, one of the major reasons he has gone down in the history books.

It was his set piece that won the 1992 European Cup final and scoring over 100 goals in his position is a remarkable feat.

DL: Sergi Barjuán

Plenty of left-backs to choose from, but in an ultimate XI I'd take Sergi Barjuán—the regular full-back counterpart to Albert Ferrer.

Barjuán was a constant in the Johan Cruyff regime and never disappointed. His haul of three La Liga titles and two Copa del Rey wins, amongst other achievements, represents one of the most respectable you'll find in football.

CM: Josep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has been a wonderful servant to Barcelona. Not only was he a brilliant player in the midfield, he has also gone on to become one of their most successful managers—despite his short tenure.

The defensive midfielder devoted 17 years of his life to the club and, as well as holding the honour of being captain, won an insane amount of trophies.

He's Barcelona through and through, having moved into the coaching side and subsequently lifting the European Cup on a second instance—this time as a manager.

CM: Xavi Hernandez

Xavi is the heartbeat of a world-class Barcelona midfield.

He is the player who prompted Pep Guardiola to say "he'll retire me," and the man who has guided both Spain and Barcelona to title after title throughout his playing career.

He has spent his entire career as a Blaugrana representative and you can see him following the same path as his former mentor Guardiola.

Xavi has one of the most ridiculous trophy cabinets in the history of football, totalling over 25 individual awards and 35 club and international medals or awards.

He's made more than 400 appearances in a Barca shirt and you can't see him retiring any time soon.

LW: Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho is one of the most skillful players to ever grace the game of football.

His ability on the ball, during his prime, was borderline unrivalled. The English were simply sick of him at one point, seeing him knock England out of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and score this goal against Chelsea.

Over the course of his European career, Ronaldinho won almost everything there is to win. Internationally, he ended just six caps short of the century mark, but has a nice World Cup winner's medal to compensate for that shortfall.

RW: Lionel Messi

It is simply ridiculous to think Lionel Messi is just 24 years of age.

He's already broken almost every record in football, with the most recent being the most goals in a single season.

He is firmly in the running for the title of the greatest ever player and considered the heir to Argentine legend Diego Maradona's throne.

With over 200 appearances for the Blaugrana already under his belt, it's easy to see him breaching the 500 mark.

He owes a massive debt of gratitude to Barcelona, who paid for his hormone deficiency treatments to aid his growth.

CAM: Johan Cruyff

It is a huge shame that Johan Cruyff didn't pick up many trophies whilst playing at Barcelona.

He is firmly embedded into the history of football and the first name you think of when someone utters the phrase "total football."

Whilst playing for the Blaugrana, he picked up the European Footballer of the Year crown and scored in a 5-0 demolition of Real Madrid.

I mean honestly...how the hell do you even do this?

On his return to the Nou Camp, as manager rather than player, he was perhaps even more successful. His four consecutive La Liga titles are the pick of an extensive trophy cabinet.

ST: Laszlo Kubala

Laszlo Kubala holds the record for the most goals in a single La Liga game to this day—seven against Sporting Gijon.

He's also only very recently been overtaken as second-top goal scorer for Barcelona, with Lionel Messi surpassing him by scoring two goals against Racing Santander early last season.

He won La Liga four times and the Copa del Generalisimo five times. 

It's tough to leave out all-time leading goal scorer Cesar Rodriguez here, but I've swung in favour of Kubala due to his supreme skill and incredible goal-to-game ratio.

Conclusions

It's always tough to construct an all-time XI and should you change the formation, you'd get a different set of players.

I consulted widely to create this set of players in my favoured formation and I'm looking forward to seeing your alternatives.

Thanks to Bleacher Report Featured Columnists' Xoel Cardenas, Michael Cerna and Allan Jiang for the consultation on this article.

Check out the new Barcelona jerseys for the 2012-2013 season here.