The 11 from La Masia-Cedar Herald Index

The 11 from La Masia is a historic football match played at the City of Valencia Stadium on 25 November 2012 in which FC Barcelona fielded at the same time eleven players nurtured in their own La Masia talent development facility. The team faced Levante UD in the twelfth round of La Liga and won the match 0-4.

The 11 players brought up at La Masia included Víctor Valdés, Martin Montoya, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Cesc Fàbregas, Pedro Rodríguez, Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello .

The 11 from La Masia

The match was a milestone in FC Barcelona's history as it was the first time a team fielded at the same time eleven players nurtured in the club's talent development facility in an official match. La Masia has been a fundamental part of FC Barcelona's football culture and has produced many world-class players, such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.

The 11 from La Masia

The 11 from La Masia are an example of FC Barcelona's commitment to developing young talent and their unique style of play based on ball control and possession. The match has been remembered as a historic event in the club's long tradition and as a tribute to the players who have been brought up at La Masia.

The 11 from La Masia

Antecedents

FC Barcelona is a football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, founded in 1899. The club is known for its successful history and its characteristic style of play based on ball control and short passing. One of the club's success factors is its La Masia youth academy, which has produced many of the world's best players.

On November 25, 2012, FC Barcelona moved to Valence to face Levante UD in a league match in La Liga. This was an important match for the club, which had already established itself as one of the top clubs in the world. Ahead of the match, FC Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova decided to use a unique tactic by fielding eleven players who had trained and developed at the club's La Masia youth academy.

This was the first time in FC Barcelona's history that the club used such tactics in an official match. The starting XI consisted of goalkeeper Víctor Valdés, defenders Martin Montoya, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba, midfielders Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Cesc Fàbregas, and forwards Pedro Rodríguez, Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello.

The match, which was also called "Los 11 de La Masia", became a historic event for FC Barcelona and its youth academy. This is proof of the club's successful work in developing and promoting young talent. The club's ability to cultivate youth academy talent is vital to its success and to maintaining its identity as a club that plays a beautiful and attractive game of football.

Chronicle

FC Barcelona made history on 25 November 2012 by fielding, for the first time in the club's history, a complete starting XI of players trained at their academy, La Masia, in an official match. The match was played at Camp Nou against Levante UD in the tenth round of the Spanish league.

The team was led by coach Tito Vilanova and consisted of Víctor Valdés in goal, defenders Martin Montoya, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba. The midfield consisted of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Cesc Fàbregas while the attacking trio consisted of Pedro Rodríguez, Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello.

From the first minute, Barça dominated the match with their characteristic possession and constant movement, and Levante UD had few chances to create danger in Valdé's goal. Although Barça struggled to break through the opposition's defense in the opening minutes, Messi had a good opportunity in the 17th minute after a pass from Pedro, but his shot was blocked by the Levante goalkeeper.

Finally, Barça managed to open the scoring in the 26th minute through a goal by Cesc Fàbregas, who capitalized on a pass from Messi to slot the ball into the goal from inside the penalty area. After that, Barça started to dominate the game and Messi increased the lead in the 43rd minute after a pass from Xavi.

In the second half, Barça kept control of the match and extended their lead in the goals tally through two more goals by Cristian Tello in the 55th and 58th minutes. Levante UD tried to close the gap, but Barça maintained possession and control of the game until the end, resulting in a historic 4-0 win.