IT’S time once again for biggest club game in world football: Real Madrid vs Barcelona.
El Clasico pits Spain’s two biggest clubs against one another — with the La Liga title seemingly on the line for this one.
Arguably the two greatest players in football history in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go head-to-head in individual football’s best-ever showdown.
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But, even without the superstar duo, this fixture has been full of world class attacking talent.
Here, we’ve compile a list of Barcelona’s ten best strikers — and to make it a little interesting, we’ve omitted Messi.
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Samuel Eto’o: 2004-09 — 130 goals
Joined the Barcelona revolution in 2004, as the club were embarking on world domination.
Eto’o scored in both Champions League finals he won with the club — and was part of the Treble-winning side of 2009.
Is eighth in the club’s all-time leading scorers list and won La Liga four times while at the Nou Camp.
Sandor Kocsis: 1958-1965 — 82 goals
Part of the legendary Hungarian side of the 1950s known as the Mighty Magyars along with Ferenc Puskas.
Kocsis scored 75 international goals in just 68 appearances — and was top goal scorer at the 1954 World Cup.
Helped Barcelona reach the 1961 European Cup final, netting four times in a 5-2 win over Wolves in the quarter-finals and won La Liga twice.
Laszlo Kubala: 1951-1961 — 194 goals
Another member of the Mighty Magyars.
Kubala was considered by some as Barcelona’s greatest ever star until Messi arrived on the scene.
He won La Liga four times and has a statue outside the Nou Camp.
Neymar: 2013-present: 100 goals
Has delivered when his side have depended on him, playing a starring role in Barcelona’s famous comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Neymar is tipped to take over the mantle as world’s best player, he has been a key member of arguably the greatest attacking force in the game’s history.
Has won La Liga twice and the Champions League in 2015.
Rivaldo: 1997-2002 — 86 goals
A superstar for Barcelona at a time when their impact on the continent was minimal.
Rivaldo won the Ballon d’Or in 1999 and back-to-back titles under Louis van Gaal.
He also scored one of the best goals in the club’s history when his dramatic overhead kick in the last minute of the last day of the 2001 season against Valencia sent his side in the Champions League ahead of the Mestalla side.
Romario: 1993-95 — 39 goals
Only spent one-and-a-half seasons at the Nou Camp — but, boy, did he make an impact!
Won La Liga in 1994, finished the season as top goal scorer and best player, and even won the Fifa World Player of the Year award.
Ronaldinho: 2003-08 — 94 goals
One of the most mesmerising players to watch in football history.
Ronaldinho’s time at the top was brief — but arguably more brilliant to watch than any other.
He transformed Barcelona from European also-rans to the best team on the planet, winning the Ballon d’Or and Fifa World Player of the Year Award in 2005 as well as the Champions League 12 months on.
Enrique ‘Quini’ Castro: 1980-84 — 77 goals
A tremendous finisher who was so lethal, he was the victim of an appalling act which cost Barcelona the 1980-81 La Liga title.
He was approached by two men and forced into a van a gun point. Quini was held captive for 90 days by a supposed right-wing group who wanted to stop the Catalans winning the championship.
In his four-game absence, concerned Barcelona players picked up just one point and eventually finished fifth.
Despite that horrible episode, he would finish as the league’s top scorer on five occasions — three times with Barca — and won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1982.
Barcelona's top goal scorers of all-time
1. Lionel Messi: 2004-present — 498
2. Cesar: 1942-1955 — 232
3. Laszlo Kubala: 1950-1961 — 194
4. Josep Samitier: 1919-1932 — 178
5. Josep Escola: 1934-1949 — 163
6. Paulino Alcantara: 1912-16 & 1918-27 — 142
7. Angel Arocha: 1926-1933 — 134
8. Samuel Eto’o: 2004-09 — 130
9. Rivaldo: 1997-2002 — 130
10. Mariano Martin: 1940-48 — 123
Hristo Stoichkov: 1990-95 and 1996-98 — 118 goals
A controversial talent — but undoubtedly one of the greats.
Stoichkov led the line for Barcelona’s first-ever European Cup victory in 1992 and was part of Cruyff’s Dream Team which won four consecutive league titles.
He won the Ballon d’Or in 1994 stayed for a total of eight seasons despite falling out with practically every manager he ever had throughout his entire career.
Luis Suarez: 2014-present — 116 goals
Suarez II has only been at the club for two and-a-half seasons, but has already left an indelible mark.
In his first season, he scored a Clasico winner as well as the clincher in the Champions League final en route to the Treble.
And, a year on, he helped his side win a league and cup double and clinched the European Golden Boot.
Note: Due to the unbelievably high volume of quality, we narrowed it down to just players in the European Cup era (from 1955-present), meaning greats such as Cesar Rodriguez and Joan Gamper missed out.
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