La Masia dominates the starting eleven of Barça against Getafe

The FC Barcelona kicked off the second half of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25 this Saturday, January 18, against Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. To face the azulón team, Hansi Flick opted for what has been his 'starting eleven' so far this year, which is completely dominated by the club's academy players.

In total, six players trained at La Masia started against the team managed by José Bordalás. The German chose Iñaki Peña as the guardian of the culé goal and Pau Cubarsí as a partner for Ronald Araujo in the center of defense, while Balde remained as the owner of the left-back position.

Further up the field, Gavi and Marc Casadó secured their starting positions in midfield, and Lamine Yamal was the main threat for the Catalans from the right wing of the attack.

FC Barcelona's lineup against Getafe:

• Starting XI: Iñaki Peña (P);  Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Araujo, Balde; Casadó, Gavi, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
• Bench: Wojciech Szczesny (P); Ferran Torres; Pablo Torre; Andreas Christensen; Fermín López; Pau Víctor; Dani Olmo; Frenkie de Jong; Eric García; Astralaga; Héctor Fort; Gerard Martín.

Barça came close to its record this season

This number of academy players in the starting eleven is the second best of the season, only behind the one formed against Espanyol in Montjuïc. In that match, seven Masia players were starters: Héctor Fort played instead of Jules Koundé, while Dani Olmo took charge of directing the team in the attacking third.

Along with the full-back and the attacking midfielder, the rest of the academy players were Iñaki Peña, Pau Cubarsí, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casadó, and Lamine Yamal.

The historical mark is 10 academy players

The absolute record for the most academy players in a Barça lineup dates back to November 25, 2012, when Tito Vilanova fielded 10 academy players from La Masia in a match against Levante (culé victory 0-4).

Dani Alves was the only exception in a formation that included Víctor Valdés; Jordi Alba, Puyol, Piqué; Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández; Iniesta, Messi, and Pedro.

Barça would complete the full set of academy players in the 15th minute, due to the entry of Martín Montoya for the injured Alves. In the 61st minute, Alba was substituted for Adriano Correia, meaning the team lasted a total of 46 minutes with only La Masia players on the field