Barcelona are targeting Champions League glory with a team spearheaded by La Masia academy products such as Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal.
Xavi Garcia Pimienta, a UEFA Youth League-winning coach who spent 17 years at the club’s academy, has spoken to Sky Sports about what makes it so special.
Barcelona’s Champions League Run
Barcelona are set to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals this week. The Spanish side made history in the round of 16, with their 7-2 second-leg victory over Newcastle the biggest by a Spanish side against an English team in 60 years.
Robert Lewandowski contributed to the victory. The result was achieved with the club’s youngest team in a Champions League knockout tie, with the average age brought down to 25 years and 18 days by the inclusion of five players from their La Masia academy.
By including Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal in the starting XI, Barcelona surpassed Ajax as the club to have given the most starts to teenagers in the Champions League knockout stages. Xavi Espart also featured from the bench.
La Masia’s Impact on the First Team
Along with Yamal, Cubarsi, Bernal and others including Fermin Lopez, Gavi and Eric Garcia, Espart is one of 14 players from the academy to have played at senior level this season.
Espart, an 18-year-old midfielder, has been likened to Philippe Lahm by manager Hansi Flick.
A CIES Football Observatory study in January found that Barcelona’s under-contract academy graduates have a transfer value nearly three times as high as any other club’s in the world.
Xavi Garcia Pimienta on Barcelona’s Academy
Xavi Garcia Pimienta has observed their progress with pride.
The 51-year-old, who was most recently employed as Sevilla’s head coach, has close ties to Barcelona and a deep understanding of La Masia, developed over three decades as a player and then as a coach for 17 years.
He won the UEFA Youth League with Barcelona’s U19s in 2018, defeating Chelsea in the final, and was considered a candidate to succeed Ernesto Valverde and Ronald Koeman at first-team level after impressing as head coach of Barça B.
He still has strong feelings for the club. He told Sky Sports: “I feel very connected to the fact Barcelona has so many homegrown players in the first team right now. It’s an honour for me because I’ve been part of that process too, both as a player and a coach.
“These players are demonstrating the level that they have, with the clear way of playing that of course came with Johan Cruyff and has been maintained and perfected ever since at a club where it’s not just about winning, but also how you win.”
Cruyff is closely linked with modern-day Barcelona, having reshaped the club’s identity and style of play after being appointed manager in 1988, with principles that included developing players from La Masia.