Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy is known to be one of the very best in the world and has churned out dozens of stars such as Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and now Lamine Yamal.
However,
a new study has ranked La Masia only in second place when it comes to the best academies in the world, with Benfica finishing top of the pile.
The CIES Football Observatory study ranks the academies “according to a training index taking into account the number of players trained, the level of the clubs they played for last year and the official game minutes played over the same period.”
Barcelona have 76 academy graduates active in the 49 leagues analysed who have played an average of 2,773 minutes in official matches over the last 12 months. Benfica are just ahead with 93 players trained and an average of 2,582 minutes played.
Hansi Flick is currently reaping the benefits of La Masia, with Yamal, Dro Fernandez, Fermin Lopez, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia and Marc Casado all starting for his team last night in the Champions League.
