Barcelona may have tied up with Levante on the weekend and have yet to reach a comfortable lead in La Liga away from Madrid powerhouses Real and Atletico. Also, in a few weeks the Blaugrana side will face off Manchester City in this season’s Uefa Champions League 16 round to prove they are worth of this year’s title of the best team. But according to the numbers from the FIFA/FIFPro World XI and the Uefa.com users’ list awards since 2004, Barcelona have acquired an easy distance to other European rivals if compared to the number of times footballers from the Catalan side have appeared in each starting XI prize.
Ever since the FIFA/FIFPro XI prize came to life ten years ago, 38 Barca’s players have already been elected to the team of the year. Real Madrid (22), Juventus (9), Manchester United (8), AC Milan (7), Chelsea (6), Liverpool (5), Bayern Munich (3), Internazionale (3), Arsenal (2), PSG (2), Atletico Madrid (1) come in the following places, respectively.
This year was no exception for Barca. Daniel Alves, Lionel Messi, Iniesta and Xavi took four spots in the best XI, and for the ninth year in a row Barcelona finished up with the highest number of athletes from one club in the FIFA/FIFPro award.
As for the FIFA Ballon d’Or, Barca’s players have been the most voted in six out of the last 10 times. Ronaldinho received the award in 2004 and 2005, while Messi held up to the trophy from 2009 through 2012.
Meanwhile, no Blaugrana players showed up in the 2013 Uefa.com users’ list, which was dominated by Bayern Munich’s footballers, with four. Although overall since 2004, Barcelona have had 33 players chosen to the same users’ list. While Real Madrid (18), AC Milan (12), Bayern (9), Chelsea (8), Arsenal (6), Manchester United (5), Juventus (5), Internazionale (4), Liverpool (4), PSG (2), Tottenham Hotspur (2), Valencia (1), Porto (1), Olympique Lyonnais (1) and Borussia Dortmund (1) have some catch up to do.
Even though the Uefa.com users’ list has a little bit more diversity in the clubs that have gotten at least one player elected since 2004, Barca still tops the competition with the most players in the season from one team seven times in the past 10 years.
And if the comparison goes into who got the most silverware in Europe since 2004, this is another victory to Barcelona. They have lifted three Uefa Champions League (2006, 2009, 2011), six La Liga titles and two FIFA Clubs World Cup. While Manchester United have reached five Premier League titles and Chelsea have had 3 EPLs and one CL, it’s only Bayern with five national titles and one CL and Porto with seven Primeira Liga trophies, who come closer to tie up with Barca.
Is it because of the continuity of their key players in the team? Does it fall to the formations and brilliant minds from Frank Rijkaard and Josep Guardiola? Is it due to the constant drive to acquire the best players in the world? Or an unconditional admiration from rivals and fans around the world, who have voted in the FIFA/FIFPro XI and in the Uefa.com users’ list that have put Barcelona in such a prestigious position?
While the answer is far from an exact aspect, the upcoming generation of youngsters from the Catalan side, the expansion of Camp Nou stadium as well as the uninterrupted look for the next generation superstar may give Barcelona few more years before they pass the crown of the best club in the world.