5 ways to know that you are a Barcelona fan

#3 You boast about La Masia

BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 07: Barcelona youth players enter La Masia at the Camp Nou stadium on April 7, 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. La Masia is the heart of the Barcelona's youth system and a residence for young players that had to leave their home behind to train at FC Barcelona in both a sporting and intelectual way. Coach Josep Guardiola and players such as Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta have lived at La Masia to become the stars of today's game. Because of the succes the name La Masia is now simply used to refer to the Barcelona youth players. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images) — La Masia – the breeding ground of superstars

At one point in time, La Masia was hailed as the best youth academy in football, mainly due to the fact that they produced the likes of Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodriguez, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi. Heck, if I didn’t know better, I would say that even Neymar is a product of the academy because of the way he has progressed at the Camp Nou.

La Masia became the holy grail of football, a point of reference for the other clubs to follow. Even the likes of Isaac Cuenca and Christian Tello looked like world beaters whenever they got the chance to play under Pep Guardiola, further fuelling the reputation of the academy.

Even though the academy hasn’t produced that kind of talent recently – and they may never again – if you still boast about the fact that it produced some of the best players of all time, you are surely a Barcelona fan.