Culé pride! Barça lined up its youngest eleven in the Champions League in 13 years

Hansi Flick remains firm in his commitment to the kids at the beginning of 2024/25. Despite the return of several 'heavyweights' to the Barça squad (Frenkie de Jong, Dani Olmo), the German coach once again trusted the youngest players for the tough challenge of facing Bayern Munich.

In the end, the bet could not have turned out better, since the culés won by a landslide (4-1) with another notable performance by the youth players, Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal. The winger added an assist, while the center back did his homework again with Iñigo Martínez.

In that sense, despite the presence of the Basque (33 years old) and Robert Lewandowski (36), the average of the Barça eleven against the Bavarian team was 24 years and 185 days, this according to OptaJose data. For 13 years, Barça had not opted for such a young lineup in the European Cup.

Since the Guardiola era, such a young Barça has not been seen in the Champions League

The precedent dates back to the 2011/12 season, Pep Guardiola's last on the culé bench. It was in the group stage duel against Bate Borisov (4-0), where the Barça team scored thanks to the goals scored by Sergi Roberto, Montoya and Pedro (double).

Barça's lineup that day (December 6, 2011) had an average of 23 years and 93 days, with nine youth players on the field. Guardiola's XI consisted of Pinto in goal; Montoya, Bartra, Fontàs and Maxwell at the back; Jonathan dos Santos, Thiago Alcántara and Sergi Roberto in midfield; and Isaac Cuenca, Raphinha and Pedro as forwards.

The average age of Barça that day remained in the complement with the additions of Martí Riverola, Gerard Deulofeu and Marc Muniesa, all of whom left La Masia. That season, the team reached the semi-finals, losing to Chelsea (3-2 overall).