What is La Masia? Barcelona's famous youth academy and the stars that it has produced

Football academies exist in almost all clubs, especially at the elite level, but few have built a reputation comparable to that of La Masia in Barcelona.

The Catalan club's famous treadmill has served generations of extremely talented stars who have achieved impressive careers in the sport.

Those who attend La Masia are imbued with the club culture and the idea is to develop a kind of family connection from the lowest age group to the senior team.

Goal takes a look at the history of La Masia and some of its most famous graduates.

La Masia – which is Catalan for "farm" – is the name generally used to describe the youth academy of Barcelona, ​​or cantera (meaning 'career') to give its Spanish name.

Residence in which young players receive football and university training, it has become synonymous with instilling the philosophy of Barcelona (My only club), with his graduates leaving invariably, marked by what club officials have described as "the seal of La Masia".

Pep Guardiola, former Barcelona player, coach and product of La Masia, said: "The player who went through La Masia has something different from the rest, it's an badet that comes only from the fact that he competed under the Barcelona shirt, you were a child. "

The original building, known as La Masia de Can Planes, was an old farmhouse built in 1702.

The Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou, was opened in 1957 and was built next to La Masia, which originally served as the club's headquarters. It was converted into dormitory for young players from outside Barcelona in 1979 and then turned into a world-renowned academy.

In 2011, La Masia was transferred from its traditional location, Carrer de la Materninat, to a new base in Barcelona's specially constructed training complex, La Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, located in Sant Joan Despi.

Built at a cost of 11 million euros, the new Masia is a 6,000-square-meter, 5-storey building that can accommodate 83 athletes.

In addition to student rooms, the building includes state-of-the-art facilities, including a gym, mbadage room, audio-visual center, clbadrooms, kitchen and, of course, locations.

The fact that so many stars have crossed its doors over the years testifies to the lasting importance of La Masia.

Although they have not all managed to forge a long career at Camp Nou, many have distinguished themselves by other clubs in Spain and elsewhere.

Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game, left La Masia during the 2003-04 campaign and became the undisputed talisman of Barcelona.

Personalities such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol are graduates of La Masia, as are Gérard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

List of La Masia graduates

As mentioned, Guardiola, who was part of the first team of Barca led by Johan Cruyff, is a former student of Masia, alongside Albert Ferrer, Sergi Barjuan and Guillermo Amor.

Cesc Fabregas left La Masia to join Arsenal, where he excelled before returning to Barca in 2011.

Other players to pbad through the academy include: Pepe Reina, Pedro, Bojan Krkic, Victor Valdes, Thiago Alcantara, Hector Bellerin and Rafinha.

It is interesting to note that Barcelona has lined up an XI composed exclusively of La Masia alumni in 2012 in a match against Levante after Dani Alves was injured by force. The Brazilian was replaced by Martin Montoya, a graduate of Masia, who joined Valdes, Alba, Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Pedro and Messi on the field.

It will not be surprising to learn that it is extremely difficult to find a place in Barcelona's youth system.

Each year, the club organizes tests for players aged 6 to 11 as part of the FCBEscola program and successful trials have a chance to progress to La Masia.

Naturally, given Barcelona's stature as a global business, the club's monitoring system aims to identify the best players on the planet.

Those who are then signed by the club can be accommodated in La Masia, but given the limited space, another accommodation is also available.

To get an idea of ​​what's happening at La Masia, watch the video above for a glimpse into the daily routine, which involves a start to the day, lessons, training and more.