Barcelona’s Unsung Heroes: Under-the-radar stars who made a difference this season | OneFootball

Barcelona’s 2024/25 season has been the first memorable one in a long time. Despite having a few moments of serious heartbreak, it will go down as one of the most remembered seasons in the club’s history simply for the brand of football they played under Hansi Flick.

The Catalans were imperious under the German coach’s orders for the first time and brought home three trophies with absolute domination, even standing just minutes away from a UEFA Champions League final spot at one point.

Their enormous campaign would not have been possible without an equal contribution from names across the field.

Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Pedri may be the names receiving all the flowers, but every single player who was a regular starter deserves the same treatment.

Concurrently, there are names who were not even regular starters for the manager but seriously stepped up whenever called on by the manager.

They may go relatively under the radar, but their conviction and passion when playing as a replacement simply helped Barcelona stay as strong even on days rotations were made.

Barça Universal brings you five players who were the team’s unsung heroes in the recently concluded campaign without whom it may well not have been possible.

Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia’s versatility an asset. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

From being on the verge of leaving the club both last summer and winter to finishing the season as one of Flick’s most trusted players, Eric Garcia was truly one of Barcelona’s most underrated players of the recently concluded season.

The academy graduate, after all, brought the one aspect that is difficult to find to the table for Flick – versatility – and helped the coach’s cause as a regular backup name and even as a starter towards the end of the season.

Garcia began the season as the manager’s mechanism to rotate the defensive midfield and often came on to replace Pedri or Marc Casado before Frenkie de Jong and Gavi were fit.

When the midfielders were back fit, he occasionally chipped in as a centre-back to aid Flick’s rotations in the department and did a decent job at it once again.

Towards the end of the season, however, Flick found his best role on the field by accident by deploying him at right-back when Jules Kounde was injured. From that point, Garcia simply moved up a notch.

He scored crucial goals for the team against Inter Milan and Real Madrid in season-defining games and completed the campaign as a reliable right-back inferior to Kounde only on very minor fronts.

His coming good as a full-back and crucial goals through the year, needless to say, make his contributions to the season unforgettable.

Gerard Martin

Not celebrated by fans, but trusted by Flick. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Hansi Flick’s preference for Gerard Martin over Hector Fort puzzled fans and pundits alike at the beginning of the season. For him to end the season liked by fans despite the scepticism around him at that time in itself is a big testament to his season.

Martin may not have been the best Barcelona player on the field at any point this season, but he gave his entire heart and honest effort every time he took to the field. He was reasonably stable in defence throughout and did well in the absence of Alejandro Balde.

The 4-3 defeat to Inter Milan in Italy was, by far, his best performance of the season as he racked up two assists under pressure against a brilliant defensive team to help Barcelona mount a comeback.

It may not have been enough to save the team, but the image of him in tears after his best night in a Barcelona shirt touched fans worldwide.

In that sense, the 23-year-old left-back may indeed not have lit the pitch on fire every time he was given a chance, but his efforts in covering for Balde were critical to hold Barcelona’s season together, particularly at the tail end.

Fermin Lopez

Clutch contributions in attack. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Barcelona roped in Dani Olmo ahead of the 2024-25 campaign in their effort to add a world-class player in the attacking midfield department.

By the time the curtains closed for the year, however, they had two world-class players in the department with Fermin Lopez stepping up to be a crucial cog for the manager.

There is no denying that Olmo is a fiercely good player on his day and a serious threat for low blocks. Comparing Lopez to him may well be unfair, but the homegrown star brings something to the plate his competitor simply cannot – pure passion.

Lopez’s season may go under the radar, especially with the unreal campaigns enjoyed by Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri and others.

Yet, the streets will not forget the impact he made every time he came on the field, particularly in the second half of the campaign and how he constantly threatened on goal.

The youngster racked up two goals and an assist in his last three games of the season and completed the league campaign with eleven goal contributions. He may not inherit a starting role next season, but he has an almost guaranteed place as a regular impact star.

Marc Casado

Breakthrough season for Casado. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The hype around Marc Bernal was real in pre-season and the youngster even started the season with serious firepower. His ACL injury, however, opened the doors for Marc Casado and the youngster stepped up far better than anyone could have hoped.

The 21-year-old, in his first season with the first team, made 20 league appearances for the team despite missing the final months through injury and was sensational playing as a part of the double pivot.

His ball control, ability to cut off attacks and dictate play made him the perfect partner to Pedri and the duo quite practically defined the first half of the season for the Catalans.

Casado will go as an unsung hero despite filling into and bossing a position the club has been plagued in for years. He may not stand out among the group of special midfielders in the club, but it is very clear he possesses something the others don’t.

Ferran Torres

The Shark mentality shone through. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

The ‘Shark’ was not a starter for Barcelona at the beginning of last season, especially given the form Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal were in.

As the season progressed, however, he was rewarded plenty of chances especially with the Polish striker needing more rest than others.

His first notable performance of the season that will be remembered came against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League when he steered Barcelona to a late comeback win scoring a brace off the bench.

He then went on to score a hat-trick against Valencia in the Copa del Rey, a vital brace in the team’s 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid and capped off the season with three assists in the final Clasico of the season.

Torres may not be one of Flick’s regular starters this season, but he was equally as important as each and every one of the players who was a de facto starter.

His willingness to accept a secondary role and still give his all every time on the field is hard to come by in today’s world. Torres may thus be one of the biggest unsung heroes of Barcelona’s domestic treble-winning season, capping off a personal best campaign of his career.