How many Barcelona and Real Madrid players today would get into the 2011 XIs

Martin Macdonald

• 23 Oct 2021 16:17 BST
• 4 min read

In the second half of the 2010/11 campaign, Barcelona and Real Madrid faced each other four times in the space of 18 days.

The flurry of fixtures highlighted how much the two clubs were at the peak of their powers, as they would face off in a crucial La Liga showdown, the Copa del Rey final, and over two legs in a Champions League knockout clash.

By this point, Pep Guardiola's Barcelona were the best side in the world, while Real Madrid had initiated the biggest spending spree the game had seen up until that point, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema being brought in as new Galacticos.

The two clubs had an embarrassment of riches a decade ago, and the quality of the pair and of La Liga as a whole has undoubtedly declined from the star-studded rosters of 2011.

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Within the four matches, Barcelona won a game, Real Madrid won a game, and the other two ended in draws.

Barcelona progressed in the Champions League encounter, while Madrid won the Copa del Rey.

With the quality not in the same league as 10 years ago, it begs the question;

Which players from the current XIs for Barcelona and Real Madrid would warrant a place in the teams from 2011?

Over the course of the 2010/11 season, the below is the players who most frequently made up the starting XI of both sides.

There are players who were sure-fire starters for almost every game, while others like Ramos and Pepe shared the duties at centre-back as Ramos would sometimes play in the middle or at right-back.

The same can be said for Seydou Keita and Sergio Busquets are that pair both featured a lot alongside Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Barcelona

Barcelona are, unfortunately for the club, in a terrible state financially to the point where they were forced to relinquish the best player in their history, Messi, this summer as they could not afford his wages.

Even before the summer cuts and subsequent rebuild, the squad was nowhere near the level of the 2011 side.

Now, it is not an exaggeration to say that, with the exception of Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique who feature in both XIs anyway, it is perhaps only Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Jordi Alba who would have a real shot at replacing their counterparts from 2011 in Victor Valdes and Eric Abidal.

Valdes does indeed remain an underrated goalkeeper considering what he did for the club, but he was never considered one of the best in the world and Ter Stegen is in that conversation.

Young players like Pedri and Ansu Fati may eventually become icons to the degree that they could displace Pedro and David Villa, but that time hasn't arrived yet.

Nobody is going to displace the midfield three of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta.

Dest would not get in before Alves, while Barca would love to have someone like Javier Mascherano around.

It goes without saying that the likes of Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong, Martin Braithwaite and Ousmane Dembele are not replacing Messi, either.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid surrendered La Liga to Atletico Madrid in 2020/21 and there is a general feeling that the club are going through a bit of a transition phase.

In the summer of 2022 it isn't without the realms of possibility that they could bring in all three of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba.

It is that kind of transfer splurge that sums up the current need for a squad refresh.

In terms of who could replace who, it is a toss up between Thibaut Courtois and Iker Casillas as although the Spaniard remains a legendary goalkeeper within the game, Courtois is arguably the better goalkeeper.

Dani Carvajal would probably displace Alvaro Arbeloa at right-back but none of David Alaba, Nacho or Eder Militao would get in an XI ahead of Pepe, Sergio Ramos or Ricardo Carvalho from their Madrid performances so far.

Xabi Alonso is one of the best deep lying midfielders ever but Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric have all been sensational for the club.

Sami Khedira would definitely miss out, while Mesut Ozil might lose his place if a midfield three of Kroos, Modric and Alonso were to emerge.

2021 Benzema would replace 2011 Benzema, but Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo in their pomp would walk into the current Madrid side.