FC Barcelona's first decade of the new Millennium has seen barren seasons interspersed with some incredible achievements as the club have won three league titles in the last five years and enjoyed two Champions League triumphs to rid themselves of the memories of six years without any silverware.
The club have always had household names and some of the world's best players, so choosing a side from those who helped the Catalan giants achieve these outstanding feats was not easy, but commitment, ability, effect and honours won were all taken into consideration.
Ronaldinho's arrival with coach Frank Rijkaard saw Barca begin to rise out of the doldrums halfway through the decade and the team that scooped the title and the Champions League in 2006 was hailed as one of the best in the club's history.
That was until president Joan Laporta showed once again what a great leader he has proven to be in his six seasons at the helm by taking a huge gamble on appointing Pep Guardiola last summer and then seeing him exceed even his own expectations by winning the treble.
Laporta cannot be named in the side for obvious reasons, but the effect that he has had on a club that was stumbling from one embarrassing episode to another before his arrival, and is now being considered the world's best side, cannot be underestimated. Below are the eleven players who have helped them achieve that status over the past decade.
Formation: 4-1-2-3
Victor Valdes - An immense goalkeeper who is sometimes wrongly derided for odd mistakes in what has been a glittering career. The 27-year-old broke into the Barca side on a regular basis in 2003-04 and he has gone on to help the club to win two Champions League trophies, the league title three times and the Copa del Rey last season. Added to that Valdes equalled Andoni Zubizarreta's club record of playing every minute in a league campaign in 2006-07, while also not conceding a goal in European competition for 466 minutes in 2007. Just signed a new contract that was thoroughly deserved to keep him as the club's number one for at least another five years.
Michael Reiziger - Edged out Juliano Belletti, famed for his Champions League winner in 2006, and Dani Alves, who impressed throughout the treble win last term. Reiziger spent seven seasons at Camp Nou and was the model of consistency as he ensured that the club did not need to consider the right-back problem until Carles Puyol rose through the ranks and began to compete with the amiable Dutchman. Unfortunately for Reiziger he was unable to help them repeat the heady heights of the late 1990s once the Millennium came and went, but his record of 173 appearances shows how important he was.
Carles Puyol - The club captain has now lifted the Champions League twice in four seasons for a club that had only won it once before. Any critics that Puyol does have do not understand what he brings not only to the team, but also to a club where identity, and especially Catalan identity, is everything. He is Barcelona's Paolo Maldini or John Terry, where the fans know where he is from, what he is about and can guarantee that he will give everything. From marking Luis Figo out of the game in the then-Real Madrid star's first return after leaving Camp Nou for the Bernabeu, to his raising of the European Cup in Paris and then Rome, he has become an idol and a symbol. Nicknamed 'Tarzan' within the club, and the 'Shark' by a famous Spanish television commentator, Puyol is already considered a club legend.
Rafael Marquez - Another outstanding signing in 2003, along with Van Bronckhorst, as he too saw his arrival met with a slight shrug of the shoulders by fans who crave big names. But little did the cules know that the Mexican would become a rock at the back in one title-winning campaign, but then perform superbly in the defensive midfield position as Barcelona won only their second Champions League trophy in 2006. While Puyol was the robust, tough-tackling defender, Marquez alongside him was the elegant thinker who conquered the air while Puyol patrolled the floor. With 150 games under his belt and plenty more to come, his medals haul will grow and so will his place among Barca fans.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst - In a period that saw Barcelona not win a trophy for six seasons, the left-sided defender snuck in almost under the radar from Arsenal in 2003. While few Barca fans will have celebrated the Dutchman's arrival all were sad to see him leave when he chose to return to Holland last summer after 105 games for the Blaugrana. During his four seasons in Catalunya, Van Bronkhorst, a name that so many Spanish football commentators struggled with, was a vital part of the revival and spectacle that saw Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and company earn all the headlines.
Pep Guardiola - A club icon and legend before he took the reins as coach and led the team to the treble. Josep Guardiola played 263 times for the Blaugrana and was seen as the epitome of what it means to be Catalan and to achieve a dream of captaining the club to glory. While he may have left in 2001 and not seen his career flourish afterwards, the current trainer will always be revered for his vision, passing and creativity as he invented the number four position at Barcelona under Johan Cruyff. A series of midfielders have followed, and copied, him with Xavi and Andres Iniesta both being strongly influenced, while Cesc Fabregas has often stated Guardiola is his hero. A part of the Dream Team on the pitch, he has now created his own version from the sidelines.
Xavi Hernandez - When a player is voted the man of the match in the European Championships final one summer and then receives the same accolade in the Champions League final the following year, he has to be pretty special and Xavi Hernandez is. Both under Frank Rijkaard and now under Pep Guardiola, the Terrassa-born playmaker has been the inspiration without whom the likes of Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o would not have enjoyed the lack of pressure on them going forward that they have been able to. With Xavi pulling the strings and laying on the passes that have opened up opposition defences, the player who made his Barca debut in 1998 can look back over more than a decade and be proud that he is now one of the team's most important stars.
Andres Iniesta - It was not until his fifth season of first team football that people began to see that Andres Iniesta could be an important member of the team, rather than just someone to bring on when the major stars were to be replaced. Now, seven years after his first appearance under Louis van Gaal, any Barca side without the Albacete youngster would not operate to its full potential and would have fans wondering if those who take his place can be as effective. His close control and vision are outstanding and while his partnership with Xavi in midfielder is often telepathic, Iniesta can also go forward and cause mayhem down either flank with his close control and eye for goal.
Ronaldinho - David Beckham had not signed despite Joan Laporta's promises and Ronaldinho could have been seen as second choice, but the Brazilian soon became one of the greatest players the club had ever seen. Joining a side that was in the doldrums in 2003 from Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldinho almost single-handedly lit a spark with his unbelievable skill, strength and tenacity that saw him lead the club to two league titles and the Champions League to end a six-year run without a trophy. In 145 matches he scored 70 goals for the club and so many stunning efforts spring to mind along with his dazzling ball skills. Everything that the club is currently enjoying can be laid at his magical feet and despite his sale, he will always be remembered as a great at Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi - The Argentinian's story of requiring growth hormones when he was a youngster is now written into Barcelona folklore as the club paid for his treatment in exchange for him playing for them and the debt has been repaid a hundred-fold. Messi showed flashes coming off the bench in his early outings for the club, but it has only been in the last two seasons that the world has sat up and taken notice of the diminutive genius doing incredible things on the right-side of Barcelona's front three. His close control, speed, turn of pace, ability to beat players and score goals has made him a favourite for all the individual honours in the game this year and has also seen him become the new hero at Barcelona.
Samuel Eto'o -Whether or not he leaves the club this summer will not let anyone forget that the Cameroonian international has been one of the greatest strikers that Barcelona have ever had. Well over a century of goals in five seasons at the club, Eto'o would have been the talisman throughout had it not been for Ronaldinho. Alongside the Brazilian, the striker led the club back to the top and helped them win the Champions League in 2006 and 2009 with goals in both finals. His record in major games can never be questioned and his temperament on the pitch is undoubted as his drive, speed, strength and determination have made him the best goalscorer in football at the moment.
Lucas Brown, Goal.com
The club have always had household names and some of the world's best players, so choosing a side from those who helped the Catalan giants achieve these outstanding feats was not easy, but commitment, ability, effect and honours won were all taken into consideration.
Ronaldinho's arrival with coach Frank Rijkaard saw Barca begin to rise out of the doldrums halfway through the decade and the team that scooped the title and the Champions League in 2006 was hailed as one of the best in the club's history.
That was until president Joan Laporta showed once again what a great leader he has proven to be in his six seasons at the helm by taking a huge gamble on appointing Pep Guardiola last summer and then seeing him exceed even his own expectations by winning the treble.
Laporta cannot be named in the side for obvious reasons, but the effect that he has had on a club that was stumbling from one embarrassing episode to another before his arrival, and is now being considered the world's best side, cannot be underestimated. Below are the eleven players who have helped them achieve that status over the past decade.
Formation: 4-1-2-3
Victor Valdes - An immense goalkeeper who is sometimes wrongly derided for odd mistakes in what has been a glittering career. The 27-year-old broke into the Barca side on a regular basis in 2003-04 and he has gone on to help the club to win two Champions League trophies, the league title three times and the Copa del Rey last season. Added to that Valdes equalled Andoni Zubizarreta's club record of playing every minute in a league campaign in 2006-07, while also not conceding a goal in European competition for 466 minutes in 2007. Just signed a new contract that was thoroughly deserved to keep him as the club's number one for at least another five years.
Michael Reiziger - Edged out Juliano Belletti, famed for his Champions League winner in 2006, and Dani Alves, who impressed throughout the treble win last term. Reiziger spent seven seasons at Camp Nou and was the model of consistency as he ensured that the club did not need to consider the right-back problem until Carles Puyol rose through the ranks and began to compete with the amiable Dutchman. Unfortunately for Reiziger he was unable to help them repeat the heady heights of the late 1990s once the Millennium came and went, but his record of 173 appearances shows how important he was.
Carles Puyol - The club captain has now lifted the Champions League twice in four seasons for a club that had only won it once before. Any critics that Puyol does have do not understand what he brings not only to the team, but also to a club where identity, and especially Catalan identity, is everything. He is Barcelona's Paolo Maldini or John Terry, where the fans know where he is from, what he is about and can guarantee that he will give everything. From marking Luis Figo out of the game in the then-Real Madrid star's first return after leaving Camp Nou for the Bernabeu, to his raising of the European Cup in Paris and then Rome, he has become an idol and a symbol. Nicknamed 'Tarzan' within the club, and the 'Shark' by a famous Spanish television commentator, Puyol is already considered a club legend.
Rafael Marquez - Another outstanding signing in 2003, along with Van Bronckhorst, as he too saw his arrival met with a slight shrug of the shoulders by fans who crave big names. But little did the cules know that the Mexican would become a rock at the back in one title-winning campaign, but then perform superbly in the defensive midfield position as Barcelona won only their second Champions League trophy in 2006. While Puyol was the robust, tough-tackling defender, Marquez alongside him was the elegant thinker who conquered the air while Puyol patrolled the floor. With 150 games under his belt and plenty more to come, his medals haul will grow and so will his place among Barca fans.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst - In a period that saw Barcelona not win a trophy for six seasons, the left-sided defender snuck in almost under the radar from Arsenal in 2003. While few Barca fans will have celebrated the Dutchman's arrival all were sad to see him leave when he chose to return to Holland last summer after 105 games for the Blaugrana. During his four seasons in Catalunya, Van Bronkhorst, a name that so many Spanish football commentators struggled with, was a vital part of the revival and spectacle that saw Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and company earn all the headlines.
Pep Guardiola - A club icon and legend before he took the reins as coach and led the team to the treble. Josep Guardiola played 263 times for the Blaugrana and was seen as the epitome of what it means to be Catalan and to achieve a dream of captaining the club to glory. While he may have left in 2001 and not seen his career flourish afterwards, the current trainer will always be revered for his vision, passing and creativity as he invented the number four position at Barcelona under Johan Cruyff. A series of midfielders have followed, and copied, him with Xavi and Andres Iniesta both being strongly influenced, while Cesc Fabregas has often stated Guardiola is his hero. A part of the Dream Team on the pitch, he has now created his own version from the sidelines.
Xavi Hernandez - When a player is voted the man of the match in the European Championships final one summer and then receives the same accolade in the Champions League final the following year, he has to be pretty special and Xavi Hernandez is. Both under Frank Rijkaard and now under Pep Guardiola, the Terrassa-born playmaker has been the inspiration without whom the likes of Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o would not have enjoyed the lack of pressure on them going forward that they have been able to. With Xavi pulling the strings and laying on the passes that have opened up opposition defences, the player who made his Barca debut in 1998 can look back over more than a decade and be proud that he is now one of the team's most important stars.
Andres Iniesta - It was not until his fifth season of first team football that people began to see that Andres Iniesta could be an important member of the team, rather than just someone to bring on when the major stars were to be replaced. Now, seven years after his first appearance under Louis van Gaal, any Barca side without the Albacete youngster would not operate to its full potential and would have fans wondering if those who take his place can be as effective. His close control and vision are outstanding and while his partnership with Xavi in midfielder is often telepathic, Iniesta can also go forward and cause mayhem down either flank with his close control and eye for goal.
Ronaldinho - David Beckham had not signed despite Joan Laporta's promises and Ronaldinho could have been seen as second choice, but the Brazilian soon became one of the greatest players the club had ever seen. Joining a side that was in the doldrums in 2003 from Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldinho almost single-handedly lit a spark with his unbelievable skill, strength and tenacity that saw him lead the club to two league titles and the Champions League to end a six-year run without a trophy. In 145 matches he scored 70 goals for the club and so many stunning efforts spring to mind along with his dazzling ball skills. Everything that the club is currently enjoying can be laid at his magical feet and despite his sale, he will always be remembered as a great at Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi - The Argentinian's story of requiring growth hormones when he was a youngster is now written into Barcelona folklore as the club paid for his treatment in exchange for him playing for them and the debt has been repaid a hundred-fold. Messi showed flashes coming off the bench in his early outings for the club, but it has only been in the last two seasons that the world has sat up and taken notice of the diminutive genius doing incredible things on the right-side of Barcelona's front three. His close control, speed, turn of pace, ability to beat players and score goals has made him a favourite for all the individual honours in the game this year and has also seen him become the new hero at Barcelona.
Samuel Eto'o -Whether or not he leaves the club this summer will not let anyone forget that the Cameroonian international has been one of the greatest strikers that Barcelona have ever had. Well over a century of goals in five seasons at the club, Eto'o would have been the talisman throughout had it not been for Ronaldinho. Alongside the Brazilian, the striker led the club back to the top and helped them win the Champions League in 2006 and 2009 with goals in both finals. His record in major games can never be questioned and his temperament on the pitch is undoubted as his drive, speed, strength and determination have made him the best goalscorer in football at the moment.
Valdes
Reiziger - Puyol - Marquez - Van Bronckhorst
Guardiola
Xavi - Iniesta
Messi - Eto'o - Ronaldinho
Do you agree with those who made it into the FC Barcelona Team of the Decade 2000-2010? What would be your XI? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think...Reiziger - Puyol - Marquez - Van Bronckhorst
Guardiola
Xavi - Iniesta
Messi - Eto'o - Ronaldinho
Lucas Brown, Goal.com