Is a paucity of young players hurting Barcelona?

In the summer of 2008, Real Madrid won the domestic double under the stewardship of Bernd Schuster. On the other hand, Barcelona finished third behind Villarreal as their fierce nemesis won consecutive La Liga titles.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced that manager Frank Rijkaard would be replaced by a young Josep Guardiola. It sounded a risky move as Guardiola had almost no top-flight experience. However, the change yielded immediate dividends as Barcelona went on to win the treble for the first time and won six trophies in 2009 while Madrid won none.

In 2009, Madrid went for expensive acquisitions. They bought Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, Kaka from Milan, Karim Benzema from Lyon and Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. They also hired Manuel Pellegrini as manager, who had done a phenomenal job at Villarreal. There was also a leadership change at the Bernebeau as Florentino Perez came to power. Real Madrid stayed true to their 'Galactico' philosophy and spent €258.5 million that summer.

Barcelona, on the other hand, did the polar opposite when they hired Guardiola. They bought budget players like Dani Alves and Seydou Keita from Sevilla, got Gerard Pique back from Manchester United and promoted Sergio Busquets from the B-Team.

Moreover, Barcelona sold off two of their key players in Ronaldinho and Deco. In 2009, when Madrid were splurging in the transfer market, Barcelona bought Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell in a trade that saw Eto'o going to Inter Milan.

It left Barcelona with a net spend of €89 million compared to Madrid's €170 million. Barcelona still managed to win the league, and Madrid again won nothing and sacked their manager.

Barcelona's shortcomings come to the fore

It's the summer of 2020, and the world is suffering from a major pandemic. 12 years later, Barcelona and Real Madrid find themselves in opposite situations.

Madrid lead Barcrlona by a point, having played a game less, and barring a disastrous end to the campaign, the Merengues look likely to win their second La Liga title under Zinedine Zidane. However, Barcelona might end up trophyless and could sack their manager for the second time in the same season. But this is not the main problem for the club.

Barcelona recently announced the departure of one of their most promising young player Arthur (23), getting in Juventus' Miralem Pjanic (30) as a part of the trade deal. Even though this is a great deal for the short term, it is disastrous for the club's long term plans. Madrid, on the other hand, announced the signing of 18-year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder Reinier.

Real Madrid now have ten top-quality young players already in the squad who can replace the team's ageing core. They also have Martin Odegaard (21) and Takefusa Kubo (19), both future sensations out on loan. Barelonaa, however, have only seven young talents who are starting quality.

In the previous three seasons, Barcelona brought in six players who were older than 28 at the time of arrival and just five players who were younger than 21. During the same period, Madrid acquired 12 players who were younger than 21 and only one player (Eden Hazard) who was older than 28.

This not only displays the difference in intent and philosophy between the two clubs but also the change in mindset since 2008. Madrid have adopted Barcelona's philosophy of developing players in the club's academy and providing them with a future at the club, in contrast, Barcelona have brought in stars in their twilight years and now have 13 players in their roster who are older than 28.

An in-depth look at Barcelona's squad

Barcelona have arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in Marc Andre Ter Stegen, who is still in his prime. Since he still has two more years on his contract, Barcelona don't need to change anything here.

They also have an excellent ready-made backup in their academy in Inaki Pena, who is just 21. However, most probably Barcelona will choose Neto instead of him, who is more experienced and trustworthy.

Barcelona have an ageing defence, no doubt, with three of their starting defenders over the age of 28. Gerard Pique still looks good, and presumably, he'll continue to lead the Barcelona defence for a while. But Samuel Umtiti has had many injury problems, and according to many reports, he might leave Barcelona, with the club hoping to get a reasonable price for him.

If Barcelona does manage to sell Umtiti, they should reinvest this money to acquire a new centre-back who can replace Pique. Jean-Clair Todibo or Ronald Araujo can be regarded as Pique's replacements. But if Pique gets injured and Umtiti is sold, asking a 20-year-old to lead the Barcelona defence would be a very risky proposition. Barcelona also have Clement Lenglet who has looked stable throughout the season.

Barcelona signed Emerson, a young Brazilian right-back, last year and sent him to Real Betis on loan where he has continued to impress. He has five assists (joint highest in Betis) while Semedo has two and has almost one key pass/game (Semedo has 0.3) in a struggling Betis squad.

Emerson also has decent defensive numbers with 2.2 tackles/game (Semedo has 1.7) and 7.4 duels won/game (Semedo has 4.7). On the left, Barcelona have Jordi Alba's replacement ready in Junior Firpo.

Real Betis Balompie v FC Barcelona - La Liga

In midfield, Barcelona have four players older than 30, with their new arrival Pjanic being considered in the list. Arturo Vidal is a backup option, but keeping him for another year wouldn't make sense for Barcelona.

He's already 33 and should be sold in the summer as Barcelona might lose him for free in 2021. Carles Alena, who is also out on loan at Real Betis, can be called back and asked to be the backup for Frenkie De Jong.

On the left side of the midfield, Barcelona have Pjanic as the controller and the young Puig who looks to be one of the best if not the best prospect at the club. Sergio Busquets has looked impressive as usual in the holding midfield role, but his lack of pace is a growing concern for Barcelona.

Rakitic has another year left in his contract, and if Barcelona doesn't decide to sell him, he can serve an important role in games against teams that pose a threat on the counter.

Barcelona have been doing great on the attacking ends of things. Lionel Messi has scored 22 La Liga goals this season, but he isn't getting any younger, and it would be ignorant to say that Barcelona can entirely rely on him.

The club managed to ease the pressure from Messi's shoulders by signing Griezmann, but the Frenchman's slow start has had an opposite effect. Luis Suarez has been mediocre this season, and it seems that his peak years are past him.

Ousmane Dembele's progress is encouraging on the left wing, but niggling injuries have disrupted his development. Barcelona also have 17-year-old Ansu Fati, a dynamic winger who came through Barcelona's ranks, who has already scored six goals in nine starts this season.

Conclusion

The question now arises that how can one of the world's greatest clubs improve their current situation? The first thing Barcelona need to do is to get rid of the deadwood and promote academy players for various backup positions.

The upcoming season can serve as a transitional one before the next Barcelona president arrives. Real Madrid did something similar last season when Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Juventus and Zinedine Zidane resigned as the manager. They did suffer a disastrous start and sacked two managers but quickly got back to their feet by appointing Zidane again.

Next, Barcelona should bring in new replacements for their ageing core. The following players need an immediate long term replacement: