Spanish clubs’ trust in youth: FC Barcelona lead the top five European leagues for minutes played by teenagers

A report from the CIES Football Observatory revealed that U20 players accounted for 15 percent of Barca’s minutes in league matches over the past year, while other LALIGA EA SPORTS clubs also rank highly.

The academies of La Liga clubs have long been renowned for producing world-class talents, and a new report from the CIES Football Observatory has underlined that Spanish clubs’ youth development remains as strong as ever.

The report, titled “Youth employment: World rankings”, ordered clubs based on the percentage of minutes in their domestic league matches which have gone to young players over the past year, from April 2023 to April 2024. When looking at U20s – that is to say, teenager players – it’s Barcelona who come out on top for all clubs in Europe’s five major leagues, as 15% of the league minutes given out by Xavi have been to teenage talents, such as Lamine Yamal, Gavi and Pau Cubarsi.

As Xavi explained earlier this season in a press conference: “We must trust the young players, the homegrown players. I think they’re ready, as I see their faces and they’re hungry. I’m really excited about this because it’s a solid and brave decision.”

It wasn’t only U20s that the CIES Football Observatory analysed. The report also detailed the percentages for other age categories, and FC Barcelona come second in Europe’s top five leagues for the fielding of U19s. 9% of the Catalan club’s minutes in the past year were for players who hadn’t yet celebrated their 19th birthday, and only Ligue 1’s Toulouse had a higher percentage, at 9.1%.

In terms of U21s, Barcelona are third with 22%, only behind the French sides RC Strasbourg (26.8%) and Lyon (23.2%). And, Barca are joined near the top of this ranking by other La Liga sides, as