“We are unique. They can never be like us. With all the youngsters from La Masia. What a recital. What pride.”
That was how legendary Barcelona defender Gerard Pique described his old side’s 4-0 rout of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on social media.
Som únics. Mai podran ser com nosaltres. Amb tots els joves de la Masia. Quin recital. Quin orgull. ❤️
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) October 26, 2024
When Lamine Yamal scored Barca’s third, many Madrid fans left the stadium. The 17-year-old winger showed off his new sponsored braces for the occasion — in Barca red and blue — as if we needed proof he is still a teenager.
It wasn’t just Yamal. Hansi Flick’s team started with six players aged 22 or younger — the first time that had happened this century in a La Liga Clasico. Against a star-studded Madrid team featuring Kylian Mbappe, Ballon d’Or favourite Vinicius Junior and last year’s headline signing Jude Bellingham, the youngsters came out on top.
Apart from Pedri, all of those six players came through Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy. In recent years, it has given them plenty of hope given their financial problems. As Pique said, it remains a huge source of pride for supporters.
Let’s go through how each of the young stars contributed to a statement win…
Lamine Yamal (winger, 17 years old)
A player who always reminds fans that football should be about entertainment. “I wish he could play for Real Madrid,” was what one home supporter in the stands said after yet another fine move from the teenager.
He has skills, goalscoring ability and just the right amount of cheek to take on the Bernabeu without a hint of trepidation. He had already produced a fine performance here in a March friendly for Spain against Brazil and made the most of this night too — scoring his first goal in a Clasico with a finish high into the net in the 77th minute.
Robert Lewandowski may have helped Barca take control with his two goals, but it was Yamal who got Blaugrana fans off their seats. Nobody took more than his three shots and he seems to set himself new challenges in every game. This time, it was scoring with his weaker right foot.
“The Real Madrid players didn’t know I had a right foot… you have to take it out when you need it,” he told reporters with a smile in the mixed zone.
At 17 years and 106 days old, he became the youngest player to score in a Clasico, taking the record from his team-mate Ansu Fati.
Yamal’s performance was overshadowed by alleged racist abuse he suffered from the stands. Real Madrid and La Liga announced they would take action after videos on social media appeared to show fans yelling racist insults at him as he prepared to take a corner and after his goal.
Pau Cubarsi (centre-back, 17 years old)
Cubarsi showed a fine understanding with goalkeeper Inaki Pena, an older academy graduate (25) who was also decisive against Madrid. The centre-back played a key role in Barca’s hugely effective offside trap, which caught Madrid offside a remarkable 12 times.
Eight of those were for Mbappe. Cubarsi managed to neutralise the Frenchman in the first leg of Barca’s Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain last season, having only made his first-team debut three months earlier. This was another performance to show why he is rated so highly within the club.
It can’t have been easy to hold his nerve at a setting like the Bernabeu and against such a strong forward line. But he acted with the calm and composure of a veteran. He completed 43 of his 47 passes for a 91 per cent passing accuracy, showing another valuable aspect of his game.
Alejandro Balde (left-back, 21 years old)
Balde is getting back to his best after a serious hamstring injury in January and question marks over his form in the first half of last season.
The left-back defended well against Madrid’s attack and also showed his attacking enterprise, providing his first assist of the season with an excellent looping cross for Lewandowski’s header.
Balde needed a night like that after missing so much of the last campaign. He made a name for himself as the left-back who benched Jordi Alba after first appearing for the senior team in September 2021. But the team looked unprotected defensively when both he and Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo played together last term.
When his friend Yamal scored, he danced with him by the corner flag. Balde grabbed the winger’s No 19 on the back of his shirt and pointed out the winger’s name to the crowd after those alleged racist insults towards Yamal.
Marc Casado (midfielder, 21 years old)
Casado is a good example of a player who had to bide his time at Barca. He considered leaving this summer as he didn’t think the club had confidence in him. Xavi called him up for a few games but he was never really in the running to play regularly for the former Barca coach.
The switch to Flick convinced him to stay and he impressed the German in pre-season. Then it seemed as if the emergence of another homegrown play, Marc Bernal, would leave Casado on the bench again but injuries to Bernal and Frenkie de Jong have seen him play as Barca’s holding midfielder.
He was one of the standout players against Madrid, giving Barca balance. He assisted Raphinha’s second goal in the 4-1 win against Bayern Munich in midweek and provided another inch-perfect pass for Lewandowski’s first effort at the Bernabeu.
Casado was replaced after receiving a yellow card but produced another performance to leave Flick with a decision to make in midfield once everyone is fit again.
Pedri (midfielder, 21 years old)
Once the player who Barca couldn’t live without, Pedri is now a key part of a team where responsibility is shared out.
The Canary Islander’s injury problems are well documented — he suffered a number of setbacks after playing 73 games for club and country in the 2020-21 season after joining from Las Palmas. His performances were called into question when he returned, but he made a mockery of those doubts here.
He was key in connecting midfield and attack and was one of the team’s leaders against Madrid. Nobody on the pitch completed more than his 53 of 58 passes and only Jules Kounde had more than his 71 touches (Kounde had 74).
Fermin Lopez (midfielder, 21 years old)
Fermin was the big doubt in the starting XI before this game: would he accompany Pedri and Casado in midfield or would Flick opt for €60million ($78m; £50m at current exchange rates) summer signing Dani Olmo, just back from injury? In the end, Flick went for Fermin after his contribution to the win against Bayern.
In the space of two years, the midfielder has gone from playing for Linares in the Spanish third division to being part of Spain’s European Championship and Olympic gold medal-winning squads this summer and a regular in Barca’s first team.
Xavi took him on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States in summer 2023 and everything changed with a Dallas Clasico. Fermin scored a fine goal and was one of Barca’s best players, despite many fans barely knowing his name.
Fermin suffered a quadricep injury at the beginning of September with Spain’s Under-21s and then experienced another setback when he returned to his club. He is a direct player who will run himself into the ground and Flick knows he can count on him — as he did again here.
(Top photo: Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
