Barcelona: Lionel Messi
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Everywhere you look on the Barcelona team, you see key players.
Carles Puyol is their captain and holds the defence together, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta conduct proceedings in midfield like no either duo in the world can and Cesc Fabregas has excelled in every position in the front six at one time or another since his arrival last summer.
But, when you have among your ranks the three-time World Player of the Year—who is on course to be crowned the tournament's top scorer for an unprecedented fourth-straight season—it is hard not pin him as your key man.