Barcelona

Spain · one of the six clubs in the Easy pool

The first club to win the treble twice, in 2009 and 2015, and the club most closely associated with an idea of how football should be played. Much of that idea arrived with one man, Johan Cruyff, who changed Barcelona twice: first as a player, then as a coach.

The story in brief

The 1950s and 1960s: Kubala and Suárez

László Kubala made Barcelona the best team in Spain in the early 1950s. By the end of the decade the club had the Hungarians Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor and the Galician playmaker Luis Suárez, who won the Ballon d'Or in 1960. Barcelona reached the 1961 European Cup final but lost it 3–2 to Benfica, and Suárez left for Inter soon after. The rest of the 1960s belonged to Real Madrid.

The 1970s and 1980s: Cruyff the player, and the near misses

Cruyff arrived from Ajax in 1973 for a world-record fee and Barcelona won La Liga that season for the first time since 1960, including a 5–0 win at the Bernabéu. Johan Neeskens followed him from Amsterdam. Titles stayed rare, though: Diego Maradona spent two injury-hit seasons at the club from 1982, and Terry Venables's side, with Bernd Schuster and Steve Archibald, won the 1985 league and then lost the 1986 European Cup final to Steaua Bucharest on penalties.

The 1990s: the Dream Team

Cruyff returned as coach in 1988 and built the "Dream Team": Pep Guardiola at the base of midfield, Ronald Koeman behind him, Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov in front, and later Romário. Barcelona won four Liga titles in a row from 1991 to 1994 and their first European Cup in 1992, Koeman's extra-time free kick beating Sampdoria at Wembley. Two years later they lost the final 4–0 to Milan. Ronaldo spent one spectacular season at the club in 1996–97, and Rivaldo won the Ballon d'Or in 1999.

2003 to now: Ronaldinho, Messi and Guardiola

Ronaldinho's arrival in 2003 restarted everything, and the Champions League followed in 2006 against Arsenal in Paris. Guardiola, promoted from the B team in 2008, then built the side many regard as the best club team of the modern era around Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi: the treble in his first season, a second Champions League in 2011, and four Ballons d'Or in a row for Messi. Luis Enrique's team, with Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, won the treble again in 2015. Messi left in 2021. Robert Lewandowski led a new side to the league title in 2023, and with the teenage Lamine Yamal it won the domestic double in 2025.

Barcelona in Treble Winner

One of the six Easy-pool clubs. Easy spins the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s; Normal adds the 1980s and 2020s; the 1960s and 1970s, Cruyff the player included, appear only on Hard.

Barcelona in the game's pool, decade by decade.
Decade	Players	Best-XI rating	Rank	First on	Highest rated in the game
1960s	60	76.7	68	Hard	Sandor Kocsis, José Antonio Zaldúa, Luis Suárez
1970s	56	77.5	57	Hard	Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Hans Krankl
1980s	75	76.9	64	Normal	Hans Krankl, Bernd Schuster, Gary Lineker
1990s	120	80.2	22	Easy	Romario, Hristo Stoichkov, Andoni Zubizarreta
2000s	152	82.3	6	Easy	Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Samuel Etoo
2010s	135	82.7	4	Easy	Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar Junior
2020s	98	80.6	15	Normal	Robert Lewandowski, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Luis Suárez

The game rates the 2010s and 2000s almost level as Barcelona's best decades, both among the strongest cells in the game. The 2020s and the Dream Team 1990s follow. The 1960s and 1980s are the weakest Barcelona cells — though even those are stronger than most clubs' best.

Drafting tips

Messi is in three cells. The pool has him at Barcelona in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, playing on the right wing, through the middle or in midfield. If your right-wing shirt is open, any modern Barcelona spin is good news.
Midfielders who make the side. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets are the obvious picks for the three midfield shirts — and taking two or more from one cell earns the club-spine bonus.
The 1990s for defenders. Koeman could play centre-back and midfield, and Carles Puyol's career starts in the 1990s cell, which helps when the modern decades run short at the back.