Ranking the 13 players to have played for both Chelsea and Barcelona

The match between Chelsea and Barcelona has always been eventful [Photo: Courtesy]

When Chelsea and Barcelona meet in the Champions League it is usually eventful – and more often than not controversial-but it is also a showcase for some excellent players.

And ahead of the Champions League last 16 ties on Tuesday, we thought we'd take a look at the 13 names that have played for both, right back to the first to do so some 23 years ago.

Even the referees got it rough [Photo: Courtesy]

Oh, and before you get angry, we've ranked them all only in order of how we feel they did at both clubs combined, and regardless of anything else they might have achieved either with other European giants or in the international game...

You're just going to get angry anyway, aren't you?

Anyway, here they are. The Chelsea-Barcelona top 13:

13. Winston Bogarde

Winston Bogarde during his time at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

There are worse players to have played for both clubs than the 20-times capped Dutch international defender, but he sits bottom of the table for his sheer refusal to leave Chelsea before the end of his four-year contract in 2004, despite him having about as much chance of playing as club mascot Stamford the Lion by the end.

Winston Bogarde also played for Barcelona [Photo: Courtesy]

"This world is about money, so when you are offered those millions you take them," he later said rather matter-of-factly. "Few people will ever earn so many. I am one of the few fortunate who do. I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership, but I don't care."

All of this came off the back of two eminently forgettable seasons at Barca.

12. Ricardo Quaresma

Ricardo Quaresma (L) in action for Chelsea in a past match [Photo: Courtesy]

A very good player elsewhere and a member of the Portugal squad that won Euro 2016, it just never quite happened for winger Quaresma at Barcelona after he left Sporting at the same time as Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003.

Ricardo Quaresma also donned the Barcelona shirt in his early years [Photo: Courtesy]

He played just 28 games for the Catalans before embarking on a nomadic career, which included five forgettable games on loan at Chelsea in 2009.

They were so forgettable that we basically only remembered about them when we were Googling stuff for this list.

11. Oriol Romeu

Oriol Romeu playing for Bracelona in a past match [Photo: Courtesy]

Oriol Romeu made 11 Premier League starts in his first season at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

Chelsea took the midfielder from Barca in 2011 after he'd played just two first-team games for his hometown club.

The tidy defensive midfielder was on the bench the night the Blues won the Champions League in Munich, but he had to leave on loan spells to pick up first team experience before finally joining Southampton in 2015.

10. Boudewijn Zenden

Boudewijn Zenden was a tidy midfielder for both Chelsea and Barcelona [Photo: Courtesy]

The dependable Dutchman was one of an army of his countrymen to sign for Barcelona under Louis van Gaal in the late 90s, and he didn't let anyone down as he cultivated a reputation as a fine midfielder and wing-back.

Opportunities were limited though, and he ended up joining Chelsea for £7.5m in the summer of 2001.

Injuries would blight Boudewijn Zenden (R) spell in London [Photo: Courtesy]

Injuries would blight his spell in London, but he'd later find more joy with Middlesbrough and Liverpool - winning the League Cup with one and reaching the Champions League final with the other.

9. Emmanuel Petit

Emmanuel Petit was one of the best stars at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

As good a player as the French midfield general was, you always associate him more with Arsenal than either of these two clubs.

Petit suited better the Barcelona jersey [Photo: Courtesy]

He left the Gunners for Barca in 2000 but only lasted a year, before moving on for two years at Stamford Bridge in the immediate pre-Abramovich years as he helped the club establish themselves as a Premier League force.

8. Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes during his days in Barcelona [Photo: Courtesy]

Fearsome Welsh forward Hughes joined Barca from Manchester United in 1986 but ended up staying just a year before a loan move to another of Europe's glamour clubs, Bayern Munich.

Mark Hughes is his Chelsea days [Photo: Courtesy]

He'd eventually head back to United and make his name there, but a 1995 move to Chelsea at the age of 31 produced a double-figure amount of goals in each of his three seasons as well as FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup medals.

7. Albert Ferrer

Ferrer gets the usual treatment from Duncan Ferguson [Photo: Courtesy]

Bar a 1990 loan spell at Tenerife these were the only two professional clubs of right-back Ferrer's career, so he deserves a pretty high ranking.

Albert Ferrer was a firm favorite with the Camp Nou faithful [Photo: Courtesy]

A member of the successful Barca side of the early to mid-1990s, he then joined Chelsea in 1998 and spent five fairly popular years at Stamford Bridge.

6. Juliano Belletti

Juliano Belletti in action for Barcelona against Arsenal [Photo: Courtesy]

He may not have been as technically gifted as some of the other names you're reading here, but you're going to be remembered if you score the winning goal in a Champions League final and Brazilian right-back Belletti is no different.

Juliano Belletti scored five goals for Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

He was only at Barca for three years - scoring in final against Arsenal in Paris in 2006 - and then he enjoyed three successful seasons at Chelsea that featured the Premier League title and two FA Cups.

5. Eidur Gudjohnsen

Eidur Gudjohnsen in action for Barcelona in a past match [Photo: Courtesy]

Eidur Gudjohnsen in his Chelsea days [Photo: Courtesy]

Icelandic forward Gudjohnsen was a hero on the Stamford Bridge terraces as his spell at Chelsea took in the pre-Abramovich era and the beginning of a dynasty under Jose Mourinho.

After two league titles he joined Barca in 2006 and stayed for a surprisingly long three seasons, winning everything on offer including the Champions League in 2009.

4. Deco

Deco celebrating a goal for Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

There was a time in mid-2000s when Deco could have seriously laid claim to the title of best creative midfielder on the planet.

Having switched allegiance from Brazil to Portugal, he shone in attacking Barca sides that won two La Liga titles and the Champions League in 2006.

Deco was magical at Barcelona [Photo: Courtesy]

He was Luiz Felipe Scolari's big addition when he joined Chelsea in 2008, and despite never quite hitting the same heights there were still flashes of brilliance, and the Premier League in 2010.

3. Pedro

Pedro at Barcelona before moving to Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

He was never one of their star names, but forward Pedro was a hugely valued member of the Barca squad in the nine seasons he played in the first team.

Pedro getting enough of first team football at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

Five league titles and three Champions League trophies featured in that spell, before an emotional departure when he left for Chelsea - picking them over Manchester United - in 2015.

He played 35 times as the Blues won the Premier League last season.

2. Samuel Eto'o

"Old man" Eto'o lasted just a season at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

Eto'o during his time at Barcelona [Photo: Courtesy]

Cameroonian forward Eto'o surprisingly only spent five years at Barca, even though it seemed a lot more.

He packed 130 goals and three league titles into that time, before setting off on globetrotting spells around the world.

That included a season at Chelsea in which Jose Mourinho questioned his age, but he still managed a hat-trick against Manchester United.

1. Cesc Fabregas

Cesc makes it as our No.1 [Photo: Courtesy]

Others may have played for the clubs for longer, or even been more celebrated by the fans, but it terms of quality then Cesc Fabregas takes the title.

Having come through the ranks at Barca before moving to Arsenal as a youngster, he returned in 2011 and embarked on four seasons in which he might not have been a first--choice pick but he still managed 42 goals.

Cesc Fabregas has been the most creative player at Chelsea [Photo: Courtesy]

His 2014 move to Chelsea has brought two league titles and the League Cup, and the World Cup winner and European champion is in line to be involved when these two clubs meet again on Tuesday