Dreams Teams: FC Barcelona

Kubala

Laudrup......................................................................... Ronaldo

Messi ....................................................................Alcántara

Pep Guardiola ................................................................Cruyff

Ronald Koeman .......................................................Olivella

Platko.................................................... Migueli

Dreams Teams: FC Barcelona

Many club mottos, bestowed in bygone eras, now ring hollow or hark back to more glorious days, but not Barcelona's. The Catalan institution's motto is the entirely appropriate "Més que un club" (More than a club) and since the club was founded in 1899 they have stayed true to that most simple of statements.
The club's standing in the game is not reflected in just the two European Cups they have won to date but through their continued reputation for dazzling football. That tradition is alive and well this season, as they have romped to a six point lead at the top of La Liga, the final of the Spanish Cup and, on Wednesday night, they take on Bayern Munich in the European Cup quarter-final at the Nou Camp.
'Pep' Guardiola is the man in charge this season - carrying on a long tradition of former players taking up the managerial reigns - and he rightly claims a place in this dream team.
The list of those who just failed to make the starting XI include Hristo Stoichkov, Andoni Zubizarreta, Guillermo Amor, Maradona and winger, Estanislau Basora but who would make your Barcelona dream team?
FERENC PLATKO
GoalkeeperBarcelona 1923-1930; 189 appearancesThe Hungarian goalkeeper Ferenc Platko fulfilled the dream of all young professionals toiling away in relative obscurity. In 1922, the 24-year-old Platko played two friendlies for his home-town team, Budapest-based MTK Hungária, against Barcelona. True to the format of schoolboy imaginings the young keeper kept two clean sheets and impressed so much that the Catalan giants offered him a contract. Seven years later the famed Spanish Romantic poet, Rafael Alberti, inspired by Platko's bravery for Barcelona, dipped his quill and penned an ode to the "blonde bear of blood" that starred consistently between the sticks both home and away from the Nou Camp. In the days long before the back-pass rule, he possessed a touch and calmness under pressure - and an appetite for striker-teasing dribbles - that endeared him to the fans. More importantly, he was the foundation stone for Barcelona's title success in the first ever season of La Liga and for that reason he scrapes in ahead of the equally-legendary Andoni Zubizarreta.
MIGUEL BERNARDO BIANQUETTI

DefenderBarcelona 1973-1989; 664 appearances, 27 goalsEternally known as "Migueli" and affectionately known as 'Tarzan', the deliciously moustachioed central defender holds the record for the most Barcelona appearances. With Ronald Koeman's runs from defence needing cover, there could be no greater Barcelona blanket than Migueli and his defensive compatriot Ferran Olivella. As Platko demonstrated with his poetic bravery, Barcelona fans never forget singular acts of selfless courage for the Barca cause. In the 1979 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Migueli played the full 120 minutes in Barcelona's extra-time win despite breaking his collarbone earlier in the match. His medal from that match sits proudly on the Bianquetti mantelpiece beside two La Liga medals, two other Cup Winners' Cup medals and four Copa del Rey trophies.
RONALD KOEMA

DefenderBarcelona 1989-1995; 345 appearances, 102 goalsThere are goals pouring from the boots of almost every player in this Catalan dream team, except those of Ronald Koeman's defensive partners, Migueli and Ferran Olivella. Between them, the two Iberian rocks scored only 28 goals in a combined total 1,164 Barcelona appearances, but the Dutchman's right boot compensates for any lack of goals from the back. In the history of the game there has been no more prolific defender. In 345 appearances for Barcelona, he tore the net on an incredible 102 occasions. None of his century of goals is more cherished by La Blaugrana than his extra-time free-kick winner in the 1992 European Cup final against Sampdoria, which saw Barcelona claim their first ever European Cup success. As well as providing goals, his right-foot could find a team-mate with exocet-precision and he became a crucial creative outlet from defence in Johan Cryuff's team that won four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994.
FERNANDO "FERRAN" OLIVELLA

DefenderBarcelona 1956-1969; 500 appearances, 1 goalIn contrast to Ronald Koeman, Ferran Olivella was struck down with altitude sickness any time he ventured past his half-way line, finding the net on just one occasion in his 500 Barcelona appearances. Olivella began his Barca career as an ever-present full-back in his first full season at the club but his lack of sheer pace saw him shift to centre-back and it was there that his positional sense thrived. As captain he inspired the club to a league and cup 'Double' in the 1958-59 season and his leadership qualities were called upon by his country, where he continued his run of domestic success by captaining Spain to the 1964 European Championships.
JOSEP GUARDIOLA

Defensive midfielderBarcelona 1990-2001; 472 appearances, 10 goalsJosep 'Pep' Guardiola is Barcelona through and through. Born locally in Santpedor, he came up through the youth ranks at the club before making his debut as a 19-year-old. With this dream team midfield packed full of unconventional and unpredictable creativity, Guardiola is the anchor when things get stormy. 'Pep' played the game with an exquisite simplicity; a third touch was always a touch too many for this diminutive midfield general. He was manager Johan Cruyff's eyes and ears on the field and often seemed to play as an extension of his footballing mentor but in this dream team they get the opportunity to combine talents on the field of play. He was one of the key members of the all-conquering team that owned the league between 1991 and 1994 and also collected a European Cup winners' medal as a 21-year-old. 'Pep' was destined to take over the captain's armband from Jose Mari Bakero but, when he finally did at the start of the 1997-98 season, the honour coincided with a serious knee injury that kept the Catalan legend out for a whole year and robbed him of his very best days.
JOHAN CRUYF
Midfield playmakerBarcelona 1973-1978; 227 appearances, 83 goalsWhen the Dutch master, Johan Cruyff, joined Barcelona in 1973, the Catalan giants had been starved of success to the point of anorexia and were crying out for a truly world-class talent to indulge the hungry masses. Like another long-haired Messiah before him, he won over doubters not only with rhetoric - he announced on his arrival that he joined Barca over Real Madrid because he could not countenance the idea of playing for a side linked to General Franco - but also his beneficent acts. While Jesus made friends and ensured his place in history by sating hunger with five fishes, Cruyff did it with the creation of five goals out of nothing at the Bernabeu on a February evening in 1974. He scored once and had a hand in the other four as Barcelona put their fiercest rivals to the sword, in an act of vengeance that would have the original Messiah turning (his cheek) in his grave. Not only did he bring humiliation to bear on Madrid, his creative genius inspired the club to their first La Liga title in 14 long, success-starved years. He only won one other trophy in his time at the club - the 1978 Copa del Rey - but he didn't need to do any more to confirm his legendary status at the Nou Camp. Just in case, though, he returned as manager to win four straight La Liga titles and guide Barca to their first ever European Cup.
MICHAEL LAUDRUP
Attacking midfielder/WingerBarcelona 1989-1994; 167 league appearances, 40 league goalsBack when quota systems did not fall foul of convoluted European employment laws and the game's administrators valiantly attempted to keep any team's dominance in check, teams were restricted to three foreign players in the starting XI. That manager Johan Cruyff chose as his three Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman and Michael Laudrup is confirmation enough of the Dane's standing in the game. Laudrup played a different game from his teammates; it often appeared that his only curse was that it all came too easy for him. His stay at the Nou Camp was controversially cut short after a fall-out with Cruyff and his subsequent move to Real Madrid sullied the Dane's name in the eyes of many Barcelona fans. When his contribution to the Catalan club is viewed without the subjective haze of fanaticism, it becomes almost impossible to leave a man of his oh-so-many talents out of the team. It is perhaps best to leave the most convincing of endorsements for his inclusion to the man who captained Laudrup for most of his time at the Nou Camp, Jose Mari Bakero: "No one has given the club as much inspiration as Michael. We all look up to him. It is a privilege to have your day enriched by a genius."
LIONEL MESSI

WingerBarcelona 2004-present; 138 appearances, 72 goalsLionel Messi, like all vertically-challenged Argentines who have burst onto the scene since the early nineties, was handicapped by that most tired of sobriquets. In the five years since the "new Maradona" made his Barcelona debut as a precocious 17-year-old, his unique talent has seen that moniker dismissed into the online archives of every football site in the world. Messi is nobody's clone. There currently exists no more unique or dazzling footballer in the world and this season has seen him mature - at the wizened age of 21 - into the complete footballer. His 30 goals in 30 appearances over the last six months have lifted Barcelona to a level of football that has had purists drooling over YouTube footage and impoverished fans selling their grannies to pay for Sky subscriptions. No doubt the back pages of broadsheets and tabloids will spend all summer boring readers to death with a Dotheboys Hall diet of cold porridge and endless 'Messi to Manchester City' rumours. The young maestro won't bat an eye-lid, won't agitate for a pay rise, he'll do what he's always done for Barcelona, and conceivably will keep on doing it for them, until his magician's legs finally give way.
LADISLAO KUBALA

ForwardBarcelona 1950-1961; 345 appearances, 274 goalsBarcelona has always been far more than just a football club and for that reason it has attracted its fair share of refugees and footballing outcasts. Never has the arrival of one of those refugees been more blessed than that of Hungarian-born, Ladislao Kubala. After the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied vast swathes of Hungary and by 1948 the country was fully assimilated as a Soviet satellite state. When Mátyás Rákosi established a Stalinist dictatorship in 1948, Kubala, unlike many of his talented compatriots, began making plans for his escape. In January 1949 he managed to hide in the back of a truck and ended up in Italy via Austria. He showcased mesmeric dribbling skills and lethal finishing while playing for Pro Patria, making such an impression that Torino - the untouchable Italian champions - invited him to play for them in a testimonial match against Benfica in Lisbon. To Barcelona's eternal relief, the week before the match Kubala was reunited with his wife and son who had also successfully fled Hungary. With his son gravely ill from the arduous journey, Kubala opted to remain in Italy rather than travel to Lisbon. On the way back from Portugal, the plane carrying the famed Torino side crashed into the Superga hills outside Turin killing all 31 on board. Kubala's decision to stay with his son saved his life and, after arriving in Barcelona in 1951, he inspired them to a period of unprecedented success throughout the 1950s.
PAULINO ALCANTARA

ForwardBarcelona 1912-1927, 357 appearances, 357 goalsBy the standards of mere mortals, Kubala's goal-scoring record is sickeningly prolific but when compared to the other two prongs of this dream team's sparkling trident, he couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo. The scoring rate of this member of the 'Goaly Trinity' - the Philippine-born Paulino Alcantara - goes beyond the definition of prolific and extends into the realm of fantasy. In 357 appearances for the club he scored at a rate of a goal a game and it all began at the tender age of 15 years, 4 months and 18 days old with a debut hat-trick against Catala SC in the Catalan Championship. Four years later, after a run of domestic trophies and more goals than a Danny Baker Christmas video, Alcantara was reluctantly dragged back to the Philippines by his parents. 'El Rompe Redes' (the Net-breaker) - a nickname earned after one particular ferocious goal, scored for Spain against France, literally ripped the net from the posts - returned to Barcelona in 1918. The goals kept coming and the trophies followed. Over the next eight seasons they won seven Catalan Championships and five Copa del Reys, a trophy which at the time was the equivalent of the national title. To this day he remains the club's youngest debutant and Barcelona's youngest ever goalscorer.

RONALDO LUIZ NAZARIO

ForwardBarcelona 1996-97, 51 appearances, 48 goalsIt is the lasting regret of every football fan born after 1977 that biological evolution dictated that we would never be permitted to watch Pele play in the flesh. His balance, strength and finishing abilities are only to be enjoyed second-hand, through recycled video footage and words of football writers who have gone before. Our modern day consolation sprang, metaphorically, from the loins of the great Brazilian and was blessed with all of his natural attributes. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario was also cursed with agitating agents and, unfortunately for the rest of the world, evolution gave him knees made of porcelain. It was the great Bobby Robson who made Ronaldo one of his first signings when he left Porto to take over the rains at the Catalan club, paying his old club PSV £10m for the young Brazilian. His stay lasted only a single season but each of his 48 goals, scored in just 51 appearances, was a confirmation of a sublime skill. If it wasn't for a falling out between his lucre-lusting agents and the club's Directors, there is no telling what the 20-year-old may have gone on to achieve for La Blaugrana. As it was his goals led them to a European Cup Winners' Cup success and victory in the finals of the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
Matthew Fearon, The Independent, 08.04.09
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