La Masia delivering again 

©TM/IMAGO

Few matches in world football carry the furore that comes with El Clásico. Two European giants with 20 Champions League triumphs between them go head-to-head again this Saturday, as Real Madrid welcome Barcelona to the Santiago Bernabéu. In the last 20 seasons, only twice have neither of these teams been crowned LaLiga champions (Atlético Madrid won the league in the 2013/14 and 2020/21 seasons). And to no great surprise, the pair are leading the standings so far this campaign, with league leaders Barca three points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid. Both sides also enjoyed fantastic weeks in the Champions League, with Madrid coming from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2, while Barcelona thrashed Bayern Munich 4-1. 

El Clásico has taken place 257 times over the years, with Real Madrid winning 106 times, Barca winning 100 times, and 51 draws. Saturday evening’s clash is sure to be a fine contest. New manager Hansi Flick has begun turning Barcelona’s fortunes around, enjoying a fine start, built heavily on the club’s famous La Masia academy graduates, and an aggressively defensive high-line, whilst Carlo Ancelotti’s team is full of world superstars such as Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior. Both teams currently adopt a very different set-up from recruitment to playing style, as they try to sustain their historic success – are the two giants reverting to their modern club archetypes? 

Different approaches: Real Madrid’s superstars vs Barcelona’s La Masia

As can be identified in the graphic above, the make-ups of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s squads are pretty much the polar opposites right now. Real Madrid have shifted away from the strategy to the one that built the ‘Galacticos’ in the 2000s, where they spent big to sign the most sought-after stars. Instead, they have spent their cash on younger talents with huge potential, such as Vinicius and Rodrygo, who were signed from Brazilian clubs when they were 17 and 18 respectively, while acquiring ready-made top stars such as Mbappé and David Alaba on free transfers. Without spending exorbitantly, in comparison to the biggest spenders, Madrid’s side is once again brimming with international superstars.

Just 23% of Real Madrid’s current first-team squad are Spanish, with 17 foreigners making up their 22-man roster. The average age of their squad is 27.1 years and they have just three academy graduates – Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vázquez and Fran García. The former two are now in their 30’s. Notably, none of the 15 most valuable players at Real Madrid right now are from the club’s native Spain. In stark contrast, Barcelona, amid their recent financial difficulties, have returned to a heavy reliance on their hugely successful La Masia academy. Remarkably, Barca currently have just eight foreign players in their entire first-team, with 69% of their squad being Spanish. 12 academy graduates have already featured for Barcelona this season in LaLiga, and their squad has an average age of just 24.6 years.  

Barcelona – Finding their identity again

Back in 1998, during his first spell in charge of Barcelona, Dutch manager Louis van Gaal proclaimed, “I dream of the team winning the European Cup that is composed entirely of players from our youth system.” The Dutchman played a pivotal role in building the La Masia academy to what it is today, and gave debuts to a number of graduates who went on to be world superstars such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Carles Puyol. During their success in the 21st century, in which they won four Champions League titles between 2006 and 2015, the side had a backbone of academy players.

However, following the world-record €222m sale of Neymar to PSG in 2017, the club changed its approach and it almost led to Barcelona going out of business. They splashed out a combined €390m for Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembélé and Antoine Griezmann, in an attempt to fill the void left by Neymar, but that trio failed to justify their hefty price-tags. Thus leaving Barcelona with huge losses on wages and transfer fees. After more big money signings in the years that followed, and somewhat of a scatter-gun strategic approach, it looks like Barcelona are now finally going back to being built around their own production line of talent. As shown in the graphic above, the club’s spending has decreased massively in the past two seasons.

The current crop of youngsters coming through looks like being yet another La Masia golden generation. Spearheaded by the sublime 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who already boasts a market value of €150m – the highest in Transfermarkt history for a player of that age – there is a plethora of talent coming through. Centre-half Pau Cubarsí (market value: €40m) is also just 17 and plays way beyond his years. 21-year-old holding midfielder Marc Casadó (market value: €15m) already reads the game expertly and was superb against Bayern’s experienced midfield. Fermín Lopez (€50m) is another 21-year-old who looks right at home in Barca’s starting XI. Pedri (who was not a La Masia product and grew up on the island of Tenerife) and Gavi, who recently returned from a long-term injury, almost feel like veterans in this team already, and are only 21 and 20 respectively. In fact, right now, Flick could feasibly accomplish van Gaal’s dream and field a team entirely from academy graduates.

The line-up above, despite not being Barcelona’s strongest at present, with notable omissions like Robert Lewandowski and the in-form Raphinha, is still a team that could conceivably compete. All of that XI have played first-team minutes for Barcelona. Dani Olmo, who returned to the club for €55m this summer, and goalkeeper Iñaki Peña, are the the only two players over 23 years old in the team. After several years of struggle, it’s an exciting time to be a Barcelona fan again, with the club’s culture seemingly beginning to be restored. However, this young group will certainly be put to the test in this Saturday’s El Clásico at the Bernabéu.