Who is Barcelona's Player of the Season?

Barcelona’s season has been marked by great highs and devastating lows.

After last season’s La Liga and Champions League double, the Blaugrana appeared to be in little need of strengthening during the summer and yet they were linked with Giuseppe Rossi, Cesc Fabregas, Neymar, Alexis Sanchez and Javier Pastore among others. In the end, Fabregas and Alexis were the only notable arrivals at Camp Nou: the former bringing an end to one of the most tedious transfer sagas ever by finally securing a move home after eight years at Arsenal; and the latter becoming the first Chilean to sign for Barca as part of a €26 million transfer from Udinese.

The Catalans looked set to sweep all before them, a suspicion which only intensified after racking up three titles by December: the Spanish Supercopa, the Uefa Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

However, there were signs that all was not well with Barca, particularly when required to leave the fortress that is Camp Nou. The Blaugrana defeated Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the December Clasico but repeatedly slipped up on the road in the most unexpected of places and had fallen 10 points behind Los Blancos by March. Pep Guardiola’s men did rally to cut their deficit to four but then defeat in the Clasico last Saturday week all but halted their three-year hold on La Liga. Just three days later, their reign as champions of Europe was ended by Chelsea. Consequently, the one remaining title left is the Copa del Rey, with a final to come against Athletic Bilbao on May 24.

Admittedly, Barca’s campaign was blighted by injury and illness: Ibrahim Afellay missed most of the season with a serious knee ailment, while David Villa is only now approaching a return to competitive football after fracturing his tibia during the Club World Cup. In addition, Pep Guardiola’s right-hand man, Tito Vilanova, and defender Eric Abidal both had cancerous tumours removed last year, while the latter was forced to undergo a liver transplant earlier this month.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Guardiola confirmed that he would be stepping down at the end of the season to be succeeded by Vilanova, citing exhaustion as the primary reason for his resignation. All in all, a season of great turmoil in Catalunya, but not one devoid of highlights.

Below, in alphabetical order, are Goal.com's three nominees for Barca’s Player of the Season, based on their club performances in all competitions. We then cast our vote at the bottom before leaving it up to you, the readers, to have your say.

CARLES PUYOL | DEFENDER

Barca have conceded the fewest goals in La Liga this season and that is largely down to the hard work of captain Carles Puyol. The Blaugrana centre-half is now 34 but he is in remarkable physical condition and plays with the energy and dynamism of a 24-year-old.

Indeed, Puyol has performed as well as he ever has this season, as evidenced by his inclusion in Uefa’s Team of the Year. His form is all the more impressive when one considers that he had an operation on his knee last summer.  

The versatile defender, who is a true Barcelona icon having become the club’s second most-capped player of all time, also weighed in with four goals this term, thus doubling his best previous return for a single season.

LIONEL MESSI | ATTACKER

Despite recently failing to shine against either Real Madrid or Chelsea, the Argentine has enjoyed one of his best seasons to date with Barcelona, having improved exponentially since Pep Guardiola took charge at Camp Nou in 2008.

The 24-year-old has already surpassed last season’s tally of 53 goals in all competitions, with his double against Rayo Vallecano meaning that he has now notched a staggering 65 times in 56 games. He is currently level on 43 goals with Cristiano Ronaldo in the battle for this year’s Pichichi, with both men having overtaken the previous Liga record of 41, which was set by the Portuguese last year. With five games in all competitions still to play, Messi is just two goals away from Gerd Muller's record of most European club goals in one season.

Last December, Messi was named the second best player in Champions League history, just after Zinedine Zidane, before then collecting his third consecutive Ballon d’Or, thus equaling the record of another Frenchman, Michel Platini, as well as Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten. In addition, in March Messi became the first man to rack up five goals in a single Champions League game, against Bayer Leverkusen, before then becoming Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer.

XAVI | MIDFIELDER

Despite being plagued by calf problems this term, the midfielder has had one of his most productive seasons ever in a Barcelona shirt. Indeed, the 32-year-old has contributed 10 goals in La Liga already this campaign – the first time in his career that he has reached double figures during a single season.

Barca’s all-time record appearance holder, Xavi was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or and although he missed out to team-mate Messi, he was included in Fifa’s Team of the Year.

In addition, Xavi has now usurped Guillermo Amor as the most decorated Barcelona player in history, with this season’s trophy haul having taken his overall tally to 18. There is still no midfielder in world football who controls the middle of the park like Xavi does.

Messi has been selected as Barca’s best player this season as he was one of the few members of the squad whose performance level did not drop during the campaign; on the contrary, it actually rose.

The Rosario native has broken a succession of goalscoring records this term, while at the same time creating numerous opportunities for those around him, as underlined by his 26 assists. Messi will now be hoping to win his fascinating battle with Cristiano Ronaldo for the European Golden Shoe, as well as surpassing Gerd Muller's legendary 67-goal mark in all club competitions.