It is eighty years since football resumed following the cessation of the Second World War and in that long period of time Barcelona have only had 16 established, first-choice goalkeepers.
Three of them were custodians of the prized jersey for a mere season before moving on but in the main this is a long-term gig. Remarkably, three of the highly esteemed names below collectively put in a 42-year shift between the sticks at Camp Nou.
Longevity is obviously a key factor when determining the greatest Barca stoppers of them all, but silverware is a consideration too.
Between them, these eight have won so many medals it would take a whole afternoon and an entire can of polish to buffer them shiny.
Miguel Reina
The Sixties and early-Seventies was a troublesome era for the Blaugrana, regularly playing second fiddle to Real Madrid’s illustrious ‘Yé-yé generation’ who hoovered up league titles and European honours on an annual basis.
Subsequently, Reina left Camp Nou with very little to show for his seven years’ service.
Yet if vintage sides were nowhere to be seen in Catalonia back then that is no reflection on the keeper’s standing.
In 1972/73 he racked up 824 minutes without conceding a goal, a La Liga record that stood for 38 years.
Pedro Maria Artola
Known by the faithful as ‘Saint Artola’ due to his unerring ability to pull off miraculous saves, ‘Pello’ signed for Barcelona aged 27 and remained there until he hung up his gloves nine years later.
In that time – spanning the mid-Seventies to early-Eighties - no league titles were secured but continental success was attained in the form of two UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumphs.
His final couple of seasons at the club was largely spent on the periphery, deputising for the superior talent of Javier Urruticoechea, but the Andoain’s stats stack up. All told, he kept 73 clean sheets in 185 starts.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Perhaps the best way to illustrate Ter Stegen’s brilliance is not via his club achievements but by focusing on the international stage.
In an era that has seen Manuel Neueur reign supreme as the optimum modern goalkeeper, Ter Stegen has still accrued 44 German caps.
A multiple La Liga winner with Barca and in possession of a Champions League gong, the agile stopper arrived in 2014, having impressed for four seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach.
A decade on and he remains in Catalonia, though now demoted to back-up. He will depart a legend.
Javier Urruticoechea
When ‘Urruti’ won the Spanish Footballer of the Year merit – the Don Balon – in 1981, after putting in a series of exceptional displays for Espanyol, it was clear he had outgrown the Parakeets.
That summer, Barcelona duly snapped him up, luring him across the city with the promise of silverware and glory.
From Urruti’s seven years at Barca, two especially stand out, the first being their La Liga triumph in 1985, the club ending a decade-long league title drought under Terry Venables.
The season after, the Catalan giants reached a European Cup final, with their number one playing a pivotal role along the way.
In a semi-final second leg against IFK Goteborg he successfully persuaded the referee to overturn a goal incorrectly given that would have extended Barca’s 3-0 deficit. They went on to draw 3-3 with Urruti the hero of the penalty shoot-out.
Tragically, the keeper died in 2001, aged just 49, in a car accident.
Salvador Sadurni
Sadurni’s medal count is slender, winning a solitary league title across 16 years in Catalonia as well as lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
As already stated, the Sixties and Seventies routinely had Barcelona unfancied in the sports betting and rightly so.
That is to take nothing away from the keeper’s excellence, winning the Ricardo Zamora Trophy on three occasions and amassing 94 clean sheets for the Blaugrana.
In 1969 he forever cemented a place in club folklore, standing firm amid flying bottles as Barca won an infamously nasty clash at the Bernabeu.
Antoni Ramallets
A giant of post-war Spanish football, Ramallets was an impenetrable force as Barcelona won five major honours in a single year, their 1951 vintage known thereafter as the ‘Cinco Copas’.
It was a side elevated by timeless greats such as Laszlo Kubala, Sandor Kocsis and Luis Suarez and Ramallets stands shoulder to shoulder with them as a stonewall legend, a name that conjures up eminence and dominance.
A hefty six La Liga titles is testament to his stature along with winning the Ricardo Zamora Trophy six times.
Victor Valdes
A World Cup winner and easily the most decorated keeper in Barcelona’s history, Valdes’ contribution to the multitude of league titles and Champions League trophies won across the 2000s and beyond is so often downplayed, a consequence of having Pep Guardiola in the dug-out and Lionel Messi up front.
Yet, that phenomenal side would not have reached such heights without boasting a watertight rearguard, Valdes a master at reading danger early and sprinting off his line. At close quarters, his reflexes were unparalleled.
Granted, he was prone to an error or two, usually high-profile gaffes too given the club’s status, but there were many reasons why Barcelona were short-priced in the football betting each and every pre-season for an entire generation. Valdes was certainly one of them.
Andoni Zubizaretta
When Pep Guardiola took charge at Manchester City he noted Joe Hart’s limitations with the ball at his feet and wasted little time in bringing in Claudio Bravo from Spain. A ball-playing keeper was crucial to his masterplan.
Three decades earlier, on taking on the managerial reins at Barcelona, Johan Cruyff had the same decision to make.
He wanted to revolutionise the team, to bring back total football, but in training Zubi – already a club legend at this point – struggled with his distribution.
For perhaps the one and only time in his life, the great man compromised.
That’s how good Zubi was, a sublime keeper known for his efficiency over flashiness, but so skilled at his trade that he ultimately kept 123 clean sheets for the Blaugrana - he would be well worth a spot in any La Liga all-time XI.
As always, Cruyff was proven right too, the pair of them lifting the European Cup in 1992.
