Barcelona: Top 10 No. 10s in the history of the club

#2 Diego Maradona (Argentina)

European Cup Winners Cup Quarter-Final Second Leg: Manchester United v Barcelona

Long before the Nou Camp bowed down to Messi, they had witnessed a miracle in Diego Maradona.

The Argentinean joined Barcelona in 1982 and spent two seasons at the LaLiga giants. His impact was instantaneous and Barcelona had a legendary No. 10 in their ranks again. Maradona mesmerized the crowd with his magical dribbling skills and his outstanding eye for the spectacular.

He would eventually become the first Barcelona player ever to be applauded at the Santiago Bernabeu when he scored an outstanding solo goal in the El Clasico in 1983.

#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Lionel Messi is the greatest No. 10 in the history of FC Barcelona

Lionel Messi actually started his career with the No. 30 jersey, before moving on to No. 19. He tormented the opposition with both numbers on his back, but it was when Ronaldinho left 2008 that Messi took on the No. 10 jersey and conquered the world.

The things that the Argentinean has done on the field as a Barcelona player defies description at the time. His goalscoring ability is unparalleled, but Messi is so much more than just a goal scorer. He is a provider and a magician, an artist and a genius. Lionel Messi has redefined the No. 10 shirt, so much so that it is almost synonymous with him.

And that is the reason why he is the greatest Barcelona No. 10 ever.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sujith M