The Barcelona players with the most goals after 100 games since 2000: Messi 10th…

Barcelona has always been home to some of football’s greatest ever attackers, but the calibre of goalscorers since 2000 has simply been on another level.

No matter how good a player might be, it’s a different pressure altogether to sign for La Blaugrana and get off to a prolific start with the club. Some take a while to click, while others simply never get going at all.

Not this bunch, though. Read on to discover the 1o players to score the most goals for Barcelona in their first 100 games for the club, since 2000.

10. Lionel Messi – 41

We’ll cut him some slack given the age he broke through at, the competition he was around and the fact he wasn’t an out-and-out striker, but it is surprising to see Messi only just sneak into the top 10.

He scored once for the senior team in his breakout 2004-05 season and managed eight in all competitons the following season. His influence continued to grow after that – particularly with assists – but his first 20+ goal season for Barcelona didn’t come until 2008-09.

9. Pedro – 41

It feels like Pedro’s stint at Barcelona from 2008 to 2015 has become massively underrated as time has gone on, with the Spanish winger scoring the same amount of goals as Messi in his first 100 games for the club after graduating to the first team.

In those 100 goals was also a unique stat; Pedro became the first player to score in every official club competition in a single season in 2009-10 and also in a calendar year.

The winger came up with important goals in La Liga as Barcelona won the title again that season, and bagged in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in the following campaign, before also scoring against Manchester United in the final.

8. David Villa – 42

A man who seemed to score like his life depended on it if you watched the Spanish top-flight solely through Revista De La Liga in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Villa’s time in Barcelona was short but extremely sweet.

Signing from Valencia in 2010, he only spent three years with the club but wasted no time in getting to grips with the step-up, scoring on his La Liga debut and bagging a brace in his first El Clasico – a 5-0 victory.

Injuries severely hampered him after an impressive, 23-goal debut campaign with the club and he left in 2013, but what a stint it was.

7. Ronaldinho – 44

Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona in 2003 and brought a level of skill and flair like no other to a resurgent side under Frank Rijkaard, but his first La Liga goal was proof that he was destined to be more than just a flashy accessory – he was the man and Sevilla felt the full force of it.

Injuries disrupted him somewhat, but his goals were key to Barcelona finishing second in 2003-04 and more fireworks would follow in the coming years, including that iconic strike against Chelsea and him winning the Ballon d’Or in 2005.

One of a kind.

6. Thierry Henry – 46

If you can’t beat them, join them. Henry took that literally in 2007 when he left Arsenal after a legendary spell with the Gunners, but had his heart broken in the 2006 Champions League final by Barcelona.

The Frenchman was 29 by the time he made the move and had most definitely played his best football in north London, but fired in 19 goals in all competitions in his first season and finished as the club’s top scorer.

He bettered that in 2008-09 with 26 in all competitions, winning the treble under Pep Guardiola before leaving in 2010.

5. Patrick Kluivert – 52

We’re now officially in over a goal every other game territory, which is pretty scary stuff. Kluivert managed 52 goals from his first 100 games at Barcelona, a flying start to an iconic spell.

The Dutchman’s excellence unfortunately aligned with a dry spell for La Blaugrana who had fallen away from the top of La Liga, meaning he only actually won one major honour with the club for his efforts from 1998 to 2004, where he finished up with 124 goals in 249 appearances.

READ NEXT: 6 former Barcelona players we can’t believe are still playing in 2024

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Barcelona’s top 30 goalscorers of all time?

4. Neymar – 58

Football has been incredibly unkind to Neymar, whose legacy and true brilliance unfortunately won’t be appreciated until he’s long retired from the game.

Swapping Santos for Barcelona in 2013, the Brazilian acclimatised almost seamlessly to the European game and proved to everybody that he was worthy of the attention. Fifty-eight goals from his first 100 games was one of several insane accolades Neymar managed alongside Messi and Luis Suarez, forming one-third of one of the game’s deadliest trios.

In another timeline, he’s a multi-time Ballon d’Or winner and one of the game’s finest footballers.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Brazilian to play for Barcelona since 1990?

3. Robert Lewandowski – 63

Despite being no spring chicken at 36 years old, Lewandowski still looks as lethal as ever in front of goal and has quickly become a modern-day Barcelona hero in one of the club’s darkest hours.

After a legendary spell at Bayern Munich where he won everything there was to win and scored 344 goals in the process, he moved to the Catalan giants in 2022, but so far only has one La Liga title for his efforts in front of goal. Fingers crossed the Polish menace can avoid falling into the same hole as Kluivert.

2. Samuel Eto’o – 68

Things could’ve been much different for Eto’o and Barcelona, with the Cameroonian forward almost rejoining Real Madrid from Mallorca before Barcelona successfully closed a deal. And what a deal it was.

Eto’o bagged 29 goals in all competitions in his first season and won the Pichichi award in his second, eventually leaving Barcelona in 2009 having won three league titles and two Champions Leagues alongside scoring 130 goals in just 199 games. Absurd.

1. Luis Suarez – 88

A near-enough incomprehensible firing rate, what makes Suarez’s prolific start at Barcelona even more outrageous is the fact he had to serve a four-month worldwide football ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.

This is a man that needed no match sharpness or settling in phase, however. A man who embodied his ‘El Pistolero’ nickname as he provided a deadly edge to an already greedy front two of Messi and Neymar.

He bagged 25 goals in his treble-winning debut season, despite not debuting until October. What a player.