Top 5 Barca performers of 2023/24 with data-driven insights

Robert Lewandowski

He has been Barca’s best player all around this year. It’s true he should have done better if you consider that we are talking about someone playing for a club like FC Barcelona, but even so, for him to have contributed the most G+A, especially we saw his improvement in after Xavi announced that he intended to leave the club.

He was able to carry us forward more often in 2024 which saw Roque only coming in as a substitute most times. For example, scoring four goals and assisting another with his head alone shows how much of an aerial threat he can be. We are yet to see his full potential unleashed under Hansi Flick next season when he switches to beast mode.

Ilkay Gundogan

He is our most valuable player, who joined us at no cost from Manchester City after winning them a treble before signing off on a high note by bringing them back down to Earth at the same time. This season, he led attacks single-handedly by creating the highest number of chances while also providing the largest number of assists despite having spent the majority of the time deeper than usual in his non-specialist position due to our key players' injuries.

His ability to pass out to wide areas was very essential for us as it helped create openings since there are players like Yamal and Raphinha capable of taking on defenders one-on-one.

Raphinha

Undoubtedly Barcelona's underrated player of the season. He has been playing as an inverted left winger lately and has adapted to his new position quite well. With twelve assists, he is the team's second-best playmaker and has shown some great performances in big matches like against PSG in the Champions League.

He even has taken many great corners for Barcelona that have also resulted in goals. He had more than 20 goals and assists for Barca for the second consecutive season, his ball carrying and progressive passes made him a valuable piece for Xavi this season. Although Raphinha's ability in 1v1 situations is brilliant, as a Barcelona winger, his dribbling ability with his Brazilian DNA must be much better. Maybe he can reach his peak under Flick, as his style of play at Bayern requires players to move alot to gain a numerical advantage in the opponent's penalty area.

Lamine Yamal

Yamal was the standout player at Barcelona throughout the whole season, even though he is just 16 years old. He is currently known as the team’s best dribbler, and some fans have already started comparing him with Lionel Messi himself, given their similar style of play but constant growth levels achieved by each player over time period considered so far.

Although his amazing ball control skills led to many scoring chances being created during matches, what makes this young talent’s shooting ability stand out more than anything else when looking back over the past few months here may surprise some people. Especially considering he also scored quite a number of long-range goals for someone so young.

Now he has set an all-time record for making 50 appearances within one season which is impressive. This boy’s future looks bright indeed; he would soon be joining Spain national team ahead of next month’s Euros where no doubt will continue lighting up world football stage even more.

Joao Cancelo

On deadline day, he joined the team on loan from Man City and contributed significantly to both the defense and the offense. Due to Alejandro Balde's injury, he started most of the matches as a leftback and used his dribbling and crossing skills to create several great chances. He was criticized by Barca's fans for his defensive actions, but as you can see, he has the most successful tackles in defensive and middle third for the team; even his positioning makes him have the most passes and shots blocked. As Balde is coming back from injury, it will take time to come back to his best form. I think Barca has to keep Cancelo, at least to have squad depth for the new season in their defense, as he adapted himself brilliantly with the team too.

In conclusion, Barcelona's season was marked by the exceptional contributions of these five players mostly, although we have to mention some other players like Felix, Christensen and De Jong too. Now by keeping them in the team for the new season, the rhythm and the chemistry between the players will also remain for reaching out great achievements under their new leader, Hansi Flick.