Everything Barca
Fansided

La Masia is back with a bang at Barcelona under Valverde and Abidal

By Chiranjib Ghosh

31 Ansu Fati of FC Barcelona during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis Balompie in Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona 25 of August of 2019, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
31 Ansu Fati of FC Barcelona during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis Balompie in Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona 25 of August of 2019, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

La Masia has returned to the scheme of things at Barcelona

This season has started off on a poor note, with a crushing 1-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the season opener. But Barcelona have bounced back in style, thrashing Real Betis 5-2 in front of a jubilant Camp Nou crowd. But there were was a striking similarity between the two matches.

Currently, there are 10 players from La Masia in the Barça squad. Among them, four are full-time members of the first-team. But of the other six, five have made appearances in both of Barça’s first league games of the season.

That list includes newly rechristened midfielder Sergi Roberto, the injury-prone Rafinha, talented playmaker Carles Aleñá, pre-season sensation Carles Pérez and the 16-year old boy wonder Ansu Fati. The only La Masia graduate in the squad yet to make an appearance is Iñaki Peña.

This is a startling revelation, considering that no one from Barcelona B could make it into the first-team squad apart for Copa del Rey fixtures, and when the league title had already been secured. Even then, it was a select group of players like Riqui Puig, not youngsters from the U-19 squad.

This trend could indicate a shift away from the policy adopted under the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu, of ignoring the youth academy. What is even more exciting is the fact that these youngsters are truly stepping up when the manager needs them.

More from Everything Barca

Rafinha was very impressive coming off the bench in the season opener, and bagged an assist against Real Betis. Sergi Roberto is still adapting to his new role on the right side of midfield, but has proven to be a reliable player.

Carles Aleñá was decent in the first game, although he didn’t do enough to hold down a spot in the starting spot. As for Ansu Fati, his dynamism after coming on as a substitute against Real Betis was a sign of things to come. He is set to become the new flag-bearer for La Masia.

But the most impressive player was certainly Carles Pérez. If his performance in pre-season was not enough to convince Valverde to call him up to the first-team squad, the 21-year old forward’s display against Betis certainly will.

Pérez had been quite decent against Athletic Bilbao, and earned himself a starting spot in the following home game. He showed a very high attacking work rate against the Verdiblancos, combining with Antoine Griezmann and eventually found the back of the net.

It was a very precise finish past Betis ‘keeper Daniel Martín Fernández, into the bottom left corner to put Barça 4-1 up. He was eventually taken off to award a debut to Ansu Fati, but Pérez has to be in the good books of the manager now.

Next. Barça to send youngsters out on loan. dark

If Éric Abidal puts a little faith in these players, a lot of money can be saved. But more importantly, it will fuel a youth academy which has struggled to produce quality first-team players in recent years. La Masia is back, and with the proverbial bang.