When Barcelona hit rock bottom, they knew who to call: a man from the house. When things werenāt going their way in 2008, they hired Pep Guardiola. Many years later, following a terrible ending to the 2019-20 season under Quique Setien, they appointed Ronald Koeman.
The Dutchman didnāt lastlong on the dugout, butheās a respected figure at the Camp Nou regardless. Yes, Barcelona ended up sacking him to bring in Xavi Hernandez. But that doesnāt change the fact that, when the house was on fire, Koeman came to the rescue.
Despite his poor stint as head coach of the Blaugrana, his reputation as a club legend is unchanged. Thatās why his opinion about Barca will continue to matter. Recently, he revealed his favorite all-time lineup of the club, leaving aside renowned names.
Ronald Koeman snubs Pique, Ronaldo, Maradona from all-time Barcelona lineup
In an interview with the showāVaques sagradesā of SEsport 3, Koeman weighed in on the greatest possible lineup in the history of Barcelona, taking into account all players who have donned the blaugrana.
Hereās Koemanās favorite starting eleven (Via Spanish outlet As):Andoni Zubizarreta;Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Johan Neeskens, Xavi HernĆ”ndez, AndrĆ©s Iniesta;Leo Messi, Johan Cruyff, Hristo Stoichkov.
Not only he didnāt include himself, but he left out other iconic players as well. For instance, he didnāt name Gerard Pique, whomhe had during his time asfirst-team coach. Besides, Koeman didnāt mention the likes of Ronaldo, Romario or Diego Maradona.
But to be fair, besides Pique, none of the aforementioned players spent much time at the Camp Nou. While Ronaldo played only one season for the Catalans, Romario and Diego were in Barcelona for only two years.
