‘La Masia is the essence of Barça’ – Barcelona academy gem reacts after La Liga debut

With every passing game, Barcelona and Xavi unearth a new talent who appears in his depth playing at the highest level.

Pau Cubarsi, Lamine Yamal and Hector Fort have all won the manager’s trust at this point in the season with the former two almost being undroppable. The latest teenage sensation to make his league debut under Xavi was Marc Casado.

The youngster had already represented the Catalan colours in the UEFA Champions League but received his first minutes in Spain last night when Barcelona took on Atletico Madrid.

Casado played just eight minutes against Los Rojiblancos after coming on for Hector Fort in the 82nd minute. He did not have a whole lot of time to impress, yet completed 100% of his passes and won 100% of his dribbles in his short cameo.

Speaking to the club media (h/t MARCA) after making his La Liga debut, the 20-year-old La Masia starlet did not hold back in expressing his joy over the special moment.

“It’s a dream to have played in La Liga with Barça. When they called me to go out, a lot of emotions. It’s a dream I have had since I was little.”

Commenting on his nerves ahead of his debut and how he managed to keep a hold of himself at Civitas Metropolitano, Casado said,

“My teammates helped me to be calmer and, at that moment, you remember a lot of people. The important thing is to get out and concentrate.”

Barcelona’s dependence on La Masia is only growing by the day and is not a negative development in any sense. Commenting on the importance of the academy in Catalonia, the youngster midfielder said,

“We are playing a lot of La Masia boys in the first team and it’s spectacular. We would like to thank the Club and Xavi. La Masia is the essence of Barça.”

Finally, Casado looked forward to his next big objectives at the club, emphasising that he was just getting started.

“The goal is to continue playing minutes with the first team and for this, they have to work a lot.”