The numbers that confirm Barcelona's clear bet on young players
Pedri, Dest and Mingueza lead the way in minutes at Barça look to the future
In what many have pressed to categorise as a "transition season," Barcelona have varied how they do things in respect to recent years.
More than at any point during the last decade, the young players now have a big role in the first team. And despite the transition season lable, Barça are into the Copa del Rey final and will fight for the league title until the end.
Various factors have pushed Barça to bet on emerging talent once again but if the club wasn't in a difficult position financially, it's hard to imagine them having so many chances.
In any case, the numbers are clear: Barça jave turned to youngsters and they have delivered. So far this season, Ronald Koeman's handed 10,450 minutes to players under 22.
The Dutch coach has shown huge confidence in the kids. With the season nowhere near to a conclusion, this figure is more than in each of the nine previous campaigns already.
What's more, the difference is so big that in some cases, 10,450 minutes doubles, triples or even quadruples the minutes handed to under 22 players in certain recent seasons.
Barça's average age had been creeping up. The XI fielded by Quique Setien against Bayern Munich (8-2) last summer was their oldest team in Champions League history: an average age of 29 years and 329 days.
Los números son claros: el Barça se ha entregado a la juventud
| @NYCTOPHILE1_Of the last 10 years, the campaign with the least participation of U22 players was in 2016-17, the final year of the Luis Enrique era. That year, the most common XI was: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar.
In the last decade, the only season close to the current one was the final year of of Pep Guardiola, when the team was: Víctor Valdés, Dani Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, Messi and Villa.
In the current season, the 10.450 minutes have been shared between: Mingueza (1.978), Sergiño Dest (2.055), Ronald Araujo (1.649), Pedri (2.585), Ilaix Moriba (202), Ansu Fati (596), Riqui Puig (464), Trincao (1.092), Konrad de la Fuente (26) and Matheus (17).
NEW FC BARCELONA PODCAST IN ENGLISH
Topics with the letter
