FOUR years ago today, Barcelona played 61 minutes of their match against Levante with an entire line-up made up of academy graduates.
Tito Vilanova was the man at the helm when the Catalans showcased their amazing array of homegrown talent, winning 4-0 at the home of the Valencians on November 25, 2012.
Barcelona started the La Liga clash with ten La Masia graduates.
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Victor Valdes was in goal with Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol in three of the back four slots — with the other occupied by Dani Alves, the only non-graduate to start the contest.
Cesc Fabregas, Segio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta completed midfield quartet with Pedro and Lionel Messi in attack.
But a 14th-minute injury to Alves forced Vilanova into an early change, and brought on youth product, Martin Montoya, to replace the Brazilian.
All of the goals were scored in that period, with Messi — inevitably — scoring two and seven minutes after the break.
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Iniesta added a third on 57, before Fabregas completing the rout on 63.
Adriano, who like Alves moved from Sevilla, replaced Alba on 75 minutes to limit the staggering period of exclusively La Masia graduates to 61 minutes.
Even more remarkable, Thiago Alcantara, who is also from Barcelona’s academy, came on in place of Xavi for the final 12 minutes.
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Cristian Tello, who also played in the academy’s youth team, was an unused sub.
Barca finished on 100 points that season to win La Liga — with Real Madrid 15 points behind.
But this staggering statistic highlights even further how much La Masia has failed them in recent years — with their shock early season defeat at home to Alaves featuring just ONE player from their academy.
Barcelona’s philosophy is now focused mainly on big-money signings such as Neymar, Luis Suarez and Andre Gomes with no quality homegrown talent emerging in past five years.
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