Juventus vs Barcelona: Combined Classic XI
By Tom Gott
As two of the biggest clubs on the planet, Barcelona and Juventus have often boasted some of football's greatest stars among their ranks.
You could probably build ten combined classic XIs made up of stars from both teams that could still beat any side around, so whittling it down to just one lineup is far harder that it might seem.
Let's see who made the cut.
1. Gianluigi Buffon (GK)
This could have easily been fellow Juventus legend Dino Zoff, but Gianluigi Buffon gets the nod here.
With close to 700 appearances and ten league titles for I Bianconeri to his name, they don't come much better than Buffon.
2. Dani Alves (RB)
These two sides have been stacked at right-back. Juventus' Lilian Thuram has a real case to feature, but it's got to be Dani Alves.
During his time with Barcelona, the Brazilian reinvented what it meant to be a right-back, winning six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues between 2008 and 2016.
3. Gaetano Scirea (CB)
Between 1974 and 1988, there weren't many centre-backs on the planet better than Gaetano Scirea.
On the pitch, he built up a CV which most players can only dream of, but he was just as impressive behind the scenes. He's the standard against which Juventus players are compared to this day.
4. Carles Puyol (CB)
Carles Puyol is to Barcelona what Scirea is to Juventus.
He ended his 15-year association with La Blaugrana in 2014 after making 593 appearances for the club and winning no less than six league titles.
5. Antonio Cabrini (LB)
Jordi Alba can feel a little aggrieved to have missed out here, but Antonio Cabrini's status as part of one of the greatest defences in the history of football cannot go unnoticed.
A dominant defender and an enthralling attacker, Cabrini was an all-round player who starred for both Juventus and Italy between 1976 and 1989.
6. Xavi (CM)
Xavi was an artist on the pitch. Always thinking ten moves ahead, he knew whether Barcelona were going to score a goal before the ball was anywhere close to the net.
His ludicrously high standard of play tormented teams all across Europe, winning four Champions League titles with ease.
7. Andrés Iniesta (CM)
You can't have one without the other. Andrés Iniesta's midfield partnership with Xavi was almost unstoppable.
Every midfielder at Camp Nou lives in the shadow of both Xavi and Iniesta, and it'll be a long time before anybody comes close to replicating their success.
8. Michel Platini (AM)
Before he was the controversial UEFA president, Michel Platini was among the most talented attacking midfielders of his generation.
Platini won three consecutive Ballons d'Or between 1983 and 1985 as a reward for his dominance with both Juventus and the French national team, with whom he won the European Championship in 1984.
9. Johan Cruyff (AM)
When your part of the conversation for the football GOAT, you waltz into any combined XI you can imagine, and that's exactly what Johan Cruyff does here.
With three Ballons d'Or of his own, Cruyff is the man responsible for building Barcelona into the global superpower which dominated football in the 80s, 90s, 00s and so on. His legacy is still felt to this day.
10. Lionel Messi (ST)
Probably the easiest decision in this entire team, Lionel Messi has spent no less than 16 years dazzling fans at Camp Nou with the sort of skill you might find once in a generation.
He's Barcelona's record goalscorer by a long way, and he's been rewarded with a whopping six Ballons d'Or.
11. Alessandro Del Piero (ST)
Cristiano Ronaldo may well be an outstanding player, but he's got a lot of work to do before Juventus fans will hold him even close to Alessandro Del Piero.
Del Piero wasn't always the most prolific forward, but the man known as a fantasista was always doing something to create a goal - finishing off the move, playing the key pass or making the run required to get the move going. Del Piero did it all.