Ronaldo, Zidane, Guardiola: Luis Figo's ultimate XI of Barcelona and Real Madrid teammates | OneFootball

Luis Figo is one of the greatest footballers of the modern era.

The legendary Portuguese racked up more than 100 appearances for each of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan across an illustrious career that saw him win the Ballon d'Or in 2000.

And anyone who saw Figo with the ball at his feet will know that he was one of the most technically gifted, deft and skilled midfielders to grace the beautiful game.

Figo's glittering career

However, there's no denying that Figo's infamous move across El Clasico battle-lines in the same year of his Ballon d'Or triumph wasn't exactly a popular one with Barcelona.

Although Figo deserves the upmost respect for making the footballing decision that felt right for him, it's hardly surprising that it continues to rank amongst the sport's most controversial transfers.

And while it's hard to imagine certain sections of the Cam Nou faithful ever forgiving him for his departure, there's no denying that the move blessed Figo with some incredible teammates.

Manchester United to sign Kalvin Phillips (Football Terrace)

Time with Barcelona and Real Madrid

Not only did Figo share a Barcelona dressing room with Rivaldo, Pep Guardiola and Patrick Kluivert, but he formed part of Real's 'Galacticos' era that featured Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo Nazario.

If that doesn't make for an impressive roster of friends and phone contacts, then we don't know what does because Figo regularly rubbed shoulders with the world's best during his time in Spain.

So, when GIVEMESPORT caught up with Figo, we wanted to put his footballing brain to the ultimate test by asking him to draw up a combined XI from his former Barcelona and Real teammates.

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In the 246 competitive meetings, which side has won the most?

Real Madrid Barcelona They're tied

Figo's combined XI of Barca and Real teammates

And if you're already totting up the frankly insane amount of world-class players that were duly at his finger tips then you'll have a pretty good idea about how incredible his starting XI was.

As such, be sure to check out who made the cut in Figo's line-up, as well as the five players that he named as his greatest teammates of all, down below:

Oh my goodness. Surely nobody could beat that XI if they all played together in their prime.

So many world-class teammates

The fact that Figo had so much top-class talent at his disposal that David Beckham, Kluivert, Claude Makelele, Hristo Stoichkov and Guti were all left on the cutting room floor really says a lot.

But to be fair to Figo, who openly admitted that he'd be forced to leave out some top players, it's hard to argue with the tantalising prospect of Rivaldo and Zidane supplying Ronaldo and Raul.

Plus, just imagine the carnage if we allowed the inclusion of Portugal and Inter players because having Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in contention would things even tougher.

Regardless of who would be chosen, though, the common thread across all these world-class stars is that they shared a dressing room with one of the greatest and that's Figo himself.

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