Over the last decade we've seen many all-time greats don the Barcelona jersey. Messi leads the line, followed by the likes of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Suarez, Pique, Henry; the list goes on and on but one person who should be right up there is Sergio Busquets.
While many of us, less-enlightened, football fans will immediately associate Busquets with play-acting rather than put him on a pedestal, the BT Sport panel were overflowing with praise following his performance against Chelsea on Tuesday night. The midfielder had a whopping 152 touches, with so much of his work, as always, going unseen.
All three of the panel have played against him at some point but it was Steven Gerrard who was most enthused by Busquets' quality:
...Calmness as well. Having played against him, you just stop pressing because you can't get near him. You can't get the ball off him. You can't get close because if you come out of your position to press him he just pops it round you. And you can't do it for 90 minutes because you're just using useless energy up.
He added, in a deeply frustrated tone, 'He's an absolute nightmare to play against.'
Rio Ferdinand echoed Gerrard's sentiment, saying: 'He could go out there in a pair of velvet slippers and perform. He's that composed and that calm. And what I love about him ... when you watch him play, head on the shoulder all the time, looking, getting pictures of what's going on around him so that when the ball he can play one-touch because he's already seen it and the pictures so clear for him. Great player.'
High praise indeed, with Gerrard referring to that's night's 152 touch performance; 'He didn't break sweat. He didn't break sweat. It almost looks like he's in second gear' and Frank Lampard describing him as 'an absolute joy'.
You can watch their analysis below:
"I've played against him. In the end, you just stop pressing him. It's so frustrating!"
Big praise for Sergio Busquets from Lampard, Gerrard & Rio. #CHEBAR #UCL pic.twitter.com/kT7pPk6Pzf
— eir Sport (@eirSport) February 20, 2018
