The greatest Barcelona team of all-time? UWCL finalists can match Messi-era men’s history-makers

There is no better centre-back in the women’s game than Mapi Leon. She’s the perfect ball-playing defender that Barcelona demand, but with exceptional defensive qualities, too.

Her stats in the UWCL this year underline that perfectly - no player has completed more passes in the competition - and, on the flip side, no player has won possession back more often, either. She’s also second for successful passes in the final third and joint-fifth for chances created. Not bad at all.

“I'm very happy here, I think it shows,” Leon said in an interview with SPORT recently. “In the end it's something that can also be seen in the performance. I think it's difficult for a player to bring out her best if she's not happy in the team or in the city. And I am very happy.”

It certainly does show.

When Fridolina Rolfo signed for Barcelona in the summer of 2021, the big question was: Where will she play? The club was not crying out for a left-winger and, indeed, that’s not where she’s excelled since her arrival.

Rolfo has instead adopted a new role, at left-back. In a team like Barcelona, it’s a role which basically acts like a second winger when the team has possession, so the Swede has been able to show all of her attacking qualities.

What has been most impressive about her time in Catalunya to date, though, is how she has grown and improved in her defensive play. She is joint-top with Leon for the number of times she has won possession back in the UWCL this season, and level on chances created too.

Often, when an attacking player is put into a more defensive position, it hinders them. Rolfo, though, is shining brighter than ever.

The unsung hero of this Barca team is Patri Guijarro. It’s something that anyone who has watched them play knows well, with her ability on the ball in that deep-lying midfield role crucial to creating attacks, while her reading of the game is often what stops the opposition mounting a counter.

Her position is one that might be more associated with backwards and sideways passes, but Guijarro’s contributions in the final third are huge. In fact, only two players have completed more passes in the final third in the UWCL this term.

“I think if you're talking about [one of] the world's best midfielders, she's definitely up there - and I probably don't think she gets enough credit,” Keira Walsh, who joined Barca last summer, said earlier this season. “I think if you're looking at the Ballon d'Or and the voting, I think she should definitely be in there.”

That’s the sort of credit the 25-year-old deserves more often.

Has there been a better player in Europe this season than Aitana Bonmati? It’s hard to argue so. Putellas’ absence and the integration of Walsh means the entire midfield has had to step up this year and Bonmati has done that exceptionally well.

She's been directly involved in more goals in the UWCL than any other player, with five goals and six assists from 10 matches, while only Roma's Manuela Giugliano has created more chances.

But, as appears to be a common theme in this Barca side, the midfielder's attacking talents are perfectly complemented by defensive abilities. "Three or four years ago, I decided that if I wanted to be a complete player, I had to do those things also," she told GOAL earlier this season. "Not only score and make assists, but also do defensive tasks to help the team."

No player has won possession back more often in the final third, with Bonmati’s intelligence in her pressing and her reading of the play so often helping Barca recover the ball in dangerous areas.

Sadly, we’ve not seen too much of Caroline Graham Hansen this season due to a thigh injury that ruled her out for five months.

Yet she marked her return to action in early March with a 20-minute hat-trick from the bench and scored seven goals in seven games through April and May, including the two that booked Barca's place in the UWCL final.

The first of those two goals in the semi-finals was one of the best seen in the competition this term, a rocket of a strike against Chelsea to silence the crowd at Stamford Bridge.

Described as "a very special player" by team-mate Lucy Bronze, Graham Hansen has certainly made up for lost time with her contributions in the last few months. When she’s been fit and on the pitch, she’s consistently been one of Barca’s star players.

With five goals and three assists in Europe this season, only two players have been involved in more goals than Asisat Oshoala this season in the biggest club competition in the game.

The Nigeria international isn’t a tiki-taka player like Leon or Bonmati but, just like Graham Hansen, she offers a change of pace and something different to the attack, something that she acknowledges herself as a big reason why she is an asset for the champions of Spain.

“To be honest, I think my style of football is quite different from the team's style of football,” she told GOAL previously. “It's not the same but at the end of the day, when you get to a certain place or when you play certain teams, you have got to change the way you play if you want to win.

“I think I'm here because, sure, I'm a good finisher and [because of] my movement in the box, I make sure I time that well. For me, I can maybe add the finishing and the speed part or whatever might not be what is the normal style of the team, but in some games, these things are needed and I give it to the team.”