Lionel Messi is only 2nd in the list of 100 greatest Barca players of all time voted by fans.
Messi is holding a lot of Barca records. He is the top scorer (627 goals), reaping the most trophies (34) and is heading to Barca’s record for most appearances. However, many fans still do not consider Messi the greatest player in Barca history. This has just been proven in a poll of Ranker page readers.
Messi is only ranked second in the list of 100 greatest players in Barca history, after compatriot Diego Maradona.
This result shocked many when Maradona only played for Barca the first two seasons in Europe. The Argentine scored 38 goals in 58 games and won the Copa del Rey, with the Spanish Super Cup with Barca, before moving to Napoli for a record price.
Obviously, Maradona’s achievement in Barca is inferior to Messi and the name “Golden Boy” was also created in Napoli and the Argentina team, not Barca. But the fact is many fans still consider Maradona better than Messi.
Some other surprises are Ronaldinho above Johan Cruyff, or Rivaldo, Romario outside the Top 10, Luis Enrique ranked only 30, or Pep Guardiola not even named in the Top 100. Meanwhile, traitor Neymar is still ranked 11th, or Marc-Andre ter Stegen (26) and Ivan Rakitic (28) also rank higher than many other Barca legends like Rafale Marquez, Luis Enrique, Gheorghe Hagi, Andoni Zubizarreta.
Top 20 Barca’s greatest players, voted by Ranker readers:
1. Diego Maradona
2. Lionel Messi
3. Ronaldinho
4. Johan Cruyff
5. Andres Iniesta
6. Xavi Hernandez
7. Carlex Puyol
8. Ronaldo de Lima
9. Gerard Pique
10. Luis Suarez
11. Neymar
12. Dani Alves
13. Sergio Busquets
14. Samuel Eto’o
15. Rivaldo
16. David Villa
17. Ronald Koeman
18. Romario
19. Hristo Stoichkov
20. Victor Valdes