A Barça team for the future...and the present
Talent is said not to depend on age and La Masia is the best example of that. Year after year the blaugrana youth system continues to provide players capable of understanding the game, competing like veterans and taking on responsibility without burden. The investment in young talent, combined with homegrown players and seamless additions has set Barça up well for now and for the future in particular.
This youthful approach has again been demonstrated by a historic stat. According to journalist Oriol Jové via his X account, FC Barcelona lined up the youngest eleven for the Club in LaLiga in 95 years for the match against Betis.
An average of 23.34 years old: a notable record
The lineup for the last game had an average age of 23.34 years old, making them the youngest Barça side in LaLiga since 28 December 1930, when the blaugranes defeated Racing Santander with a team with an average age of 23.09 years old.
This comparison excludes the match on 9 September 1984 against Zaragoza, when youth players featured due to a strike by professional players, and the average age of 20.69 years old was a one-off.
The eleven who made history
The historic blaugrana eleven was comprised of Joan Garcia (24 years, 7 months and 2 days) in goal; a young defence featuring Alejandro Balde (22 years, 1 month and 18 days old), Pau Cubarsí (18 years, 10 months and 14 days old), Gerard Martín (23 years, 9 months and 10 days old) and Jules Kounde (27 years and 24 days old); Roony Bardghji (20 years and 21 days old), Eric Garcia (24 years, 10 months and 27 days old), Pedri (23 years and 11 days old), Lamine Yamal (18 years, 4 months and 23 days old), Ferran Torres (25 years, 9 months and 7 days old) and Marcus Rashford (28 years, 1 month and 6 days old).
This record has not come about by chance: it results from the combination of talent and experience, making Barça a brave team with an amazing future ahead of them.