One of the running themes in Barcelona news this season has been the faith shown by the club in fielding young players.
Pedri, Ilaix Moriba, Oscar Mingueza and Ansu Fati are among the stars who have featured prominently this campaign and have all – to varying degrees – improved as players.
Now, a study from the CIES Football Observatory has shown that the Blaugrana have given more minutes to Under-21 players than any other La Liga club this campaign.
Issue number 3⃣3⃣3⃣ of the @CIES_Football Weekly Post unveils the % of minutes played by U21 footballers for 9⃣9⃣9⃣ teams from 71 top divisions worldwide 😮 @BVB ahead of @ogcnice & @AS_Monaco in the big-5 🌱 Full data ➡️ https://t.co/Uz9q0Ozt9T pic.twitter.com/ghtiLUUns8
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) April 12, 2021
Precisely 15 percent of minutes that the Catalan giants have handed out this campaign have been to players aged 21 or under.
Barcelona just miss out on a place in the top 10 in European terms – the overall list in Europe’s top five leagues is topped by Borussia Dortmund (28.5 percent of minutes) while seven of the top 10 places are occupied by French clubs.
The next Spanish club is 17th on the list is Valencia – on 11.3 percent of minutes to Under-21 players – and then Real Madrid, 29th, on 7.6 percent.
