Most fans would still consider Barcelona to be one of the biggest, best and most prestigious teams in world football. They won La Liga – quite possibly the best league on the planet – in 2022/23 and remain one of the best-known “brands” in the sport, with fans aplenty in all corners of the globe.
It would certainly be wrong to question their status as one of the biggest teams around but when it comes to best there is a far clearer argument, despite their recent domestic title. First, that win is their only Liga title in the last five years and in 2020/21 they even finished back in third. Second, when it comes to the arguably more important matter of Champions League glory, they have not had anything to sing about since 2014/15.
That means they have endured almost a decade of “failure” when it comes to the most lucrative competition in football. Indeed, in that time they have not even made it through to the final of the CL; and to make matters worse, great rivals Real Madrid have made five of the nine finals since… and won them all!
But – whisper it – for all that the noise from Spain was about Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real, it might just be that Barcelona are building something special. As has often been the case in Spain in the modern era, there are two different ways of creating a team being employed by the nation’s biggest teams. Real have bought (even if their spending has been relatively moderate compared to the days gone by) and have focussed on young talent rather than proven Galactico-style stars.
Alongside players such as Jude Bellingham and Mbappe they have signed outstanding youngsters, such as Brazilian 18-year-old Endrick, Arda Guler from Fenerbahce and Aurelien Tchouameni, and before that Eduardo Camavinga. Mbappe was 25, the others 22 or younger when they were bought.
But the Barcelona model, built around their famous, almost mythical La Masia academy, is all about developing their own youngsters. Spain’s national team won the European Championship in 2024 and has been doing well at various age groups too. Their success has been built on youngsters from Barcelona and also other clubs in the country. But there is certainly a feeling that the current crop of Barca stars really could be something special.
Barca Batter Bayern
The new format in the Champions League is intended to mean that there will generally be a blockbuster clash in each round of games. The most recent round of fixtures saw a thriller in Madrid, as Real came from two down with just half an hour remaining to win 5-2. But there is no doubt that the fixture most neutrals were looking forward to was the following day, the 23rd of October.
Barca and Bayern Munich have played out some classics in the past, the most recent game being the 12th time they had met in this competition (just in the modern CL era). Bayern’s 8-2 win back in the 2019/20 season will take some beating in terms of a shock, but this time around there was a measure of revenge for the Catalans.
They won with ease, Brazilian Raphinha, who has really settled in now, scoring in the opening minute of the clash. Harry Kane hit back after 18 minutes but two more goals from Raphinha and another from Robert Lewandowski made it 4-1 to the hosts. That convincing win has seen them shorten to 9/1 to win the competition outright. Barca still have work to do to make the top eight but they are 10th and there is still a long way to go and they are building belief and momentum.
Exciting Youngsters Provide Perfect Blend
The goalscorers against Bayern are enjoying magnificent seasons, with Raphinha delivering nine goals and eight assists from 13 Liga and CL games combined. Lewandowski is 36 now but still going strong and boasts 15 goals and two assists from the same mix of three European and 10 domestic clashes. If that seems to paint a picture of a team built on bought-in talent, it would be unfair, to say the least.
Barca are sitting pretty at the top of La Liga at the time of writing with ten wins from eleven games and they are starting to look like the great sides of earlier in the century. But their brilliance is built on a truly exciting mix of homegrown talent and players they have bought.
| Club | P | W | D | L | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Barcelona | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| 2nd | Real Madrid | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| 3rd | Villarreal | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
| 4th | Atlético Madrid | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 20 |
| 5th | Athletic Club | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| 6th | Real Betis | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| 7th | Mallorca | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| 8th | Osasuna | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
Whilst ex-Leeds player Raphinha and Poland star Lewandowski have certainly attracted a lot of the plaudits, it is very much a team effort at Camp Nou. Hansi Flick only took over the managerial reigns in May 2024 but there are already lots of positives about how his team is playing. As well as the two aforementioned attackers, Barca create and score goals throughout the team, with Euro 2024 superstar Lamine Yamal in double figures for goal involvements already and the likes of Pedri and Pablo Torre also chipping in.
Lamine Yamal, the best U-21 player in the world! #tropheekopa pic.twitter.com/2fhGQCtvVp
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2024
As well as the mix of old and young, and Barca-raised and bought-in talent, the club also have a mix of young and very young. Pedri won the Golen Boy award and also the Kepa trophy in 2021. His teammate Gavi has just returned from a long-term injury and he won the award in 2022. Real have the man who did the double in 2023, Bellingham, but Barcelona certainly have the players to win it in 2024 and beyond, or certainly a huge crop of amazing players who remain very youthful.
Yamal remains just 17, left-back Pau Cubarsi is the same age and, like Yamal, has played in all eleven league games this term. They have a number of other 17-year-olds who have played, or at least been in the squad, whilst Marc Casado has been superb in a defensive midfield role this term and is still only 21. Ansu Fati (21) is playing for the club again, whilst Fermin Lopez (21) was exceptional against Bayern.
Not all of their young players came through La Masia but nonetheless, Barcelona have a youthfulness to their squad that means they could be a force for a long time to come. They are the youngest squad in La Liga, with an average age of around 24. And that is despite Lewandowski, plus the two goalkeepers they have with an average age of 33. In all, they have 23 players that have at the very least made the squad this term that are aged 24 or under. Watch this space!