Més Que Un Club - Barça B y Barcelona Femení

FC Barcelona’s first team is undeniably the main focus. But today the spotlight is on Barcelona Femení and Barça B. Més Que Un Club symbolizes the Barcelona philosophy. La Masia is one of the stepping-stones of the philosophy and it runs through all the Barcelona teams. This blog post is all about exploring these flourishing teams and giving them the attention they deserve. From key players to expectations, this blog post covers it all.

Barça B 

Over the years, La Masia’s quality is said to have fallen with not many players making the Barcelona first team. Any era would naturally struggle to meet expectations when trying to replicate a golden era filled with superstars including Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and more. Big signings have also been made over the past several years making it the path to the first team very hard for the youngsters. But the past few seasons have been positive. Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Inaki Pena and Mingueza are part of the first team squad this season. The likes of Balde, Gavi and Nico Gonzalez look like they will get minutes with the first team. Players like Comas, Arnau Tenas, Ilias Akhomach, Peque Fernandez and Angel Alarcon look promising. Barcelona B is the top youth level at FC Barcelona. Last season, Garcia Pimienta’s side were playing brilliant style of football encapsulating the Barcelona philosophy. Though they didn’t achieve promotion to the second tier, it was sad to see Pimienta sacked after such an exciting season. Laporta wanted to restructure the club and youth system, leading to him coming to the decision of appointing Sergi Barjuan. The main goal for Barcelona B will be to achieve promotion while of course playing the Barcelona way.

Key Players

Ilias Akhomach

Ilias Akhomach, the 17-year-old will be one of the most exciting prospects to keep an eye on. Initially, he was called upon to first team training for Pre-Season but due to a positive Covid test missed the opportunity to impress Ronald Koeman. In recent years, we have seen Ansu Fati make the direct jump from the Juvenil A to the first team and Ilias Akhomach was on the path to do just that, but he will be playing for Barcelona B this season. He became the youngest player to debut for Barça B in the Segunda B. A right winger by trade, he was christened the “New Messi” by La Masia’s academy director Patrick Kluivert, although putting that kind of pressure on such a young player is far from ideal. A wonderful dribbler, Akhomach glides past defenders with ease. He has the ability to get past defenders in 1V1 situations and has brilliant balance on the ball. Akhomach has also shown the ability to play as a false 9 and a left winger. He still needs to improve in certain aspects like finishing and is still very raw. Nevertheless, Barcelona have a real gem to look after.

Arnau Comas

Arnau Comas, at 20 is one of the pillars of Barça B. The 6’3” centre back has solidified his spot in the second team and is looking to make the jump up to the first team. Last year when the first team had an injury crisis, I was surprised to see Mingueza called up instead of Comas, but its turned out well. Brilliant on the ball, Comas is the prototype Barcelona centre back. He is calm on the ball and has the composure to play out from the back. His long balls come in pretty handy as well. He has a good recovery pace as well helping out during counter attacks. His positioning and reading of the game makes him an excellent centre back. We’ll have to wait and see if there is an opening for him to make the first team.

 
Arnau Tenas

Before I’m on about Tenas, let me get in some honourable mentions. Player like Gavi, Nico and Balde have not been considered because we already know what they will be bringing, and we will be talking about them further in the season as they eventually get their opportunities with the first team. Jandro Orrelana has been at Barça B for quite a while and his progress has somewhat stagnated. Gerard “Peque” Fernandez was probably the closest to the 3 key players I have selected, as he will be pivotal for Barça B this season and he is one of the only La Masia strikers to make it this far in his development. Now about Arnau Tenas, the 6’1” goalkeeper has something special about him. He has that element of charisma and craziness that seems to lack in modern goalkeepers. He gives the Victor Valdes vibes to be precise, not to make any comparisons. He is brilliant on the ball as well and is brave enough to take risks. He commands the defence as well which is impressive for a 20-year-old. He has great reflexes as well and is all in all an exciting prospect with a wonderful mentality. Still just 20, Tenas has much more development to undertake as a goalkeeper and he surely can make it into the first team dynamics one day.

Barcelona Femení

Barcelona Femení have been impeccable. They won the Women’s Champions League, Copa de la Reina and frankly dismantled Primera Division. They scored a total of 8 goals in just the finals of the Copa de la Reina and the UWCL! With 33 wins and just 1 loss, the Femení finished with 99 points (34 games) in the Primera Division, scoring 167 goals and conceding only 15!!! Dominance is not even the word for this Barcelona machine. And they look like they are still hungry with Lluis Cortes (manager) resigning after leading the team to a treble and he was quoted saying “Right now I feel very little energy to continue leading this team, the best in the world needs a trained coach to drag, spread and transmit strength to the group”. Funnily enough, this was said right before the last league match where they won 9-1. It has been said in the media that the players appreciate the work of the coach, but after the treble they want to start a new cycle. Barcelona Femení will be coming into the new season with high expectations. Replicating the treble will be very difficult, but the squad has brilliant players who can surely make it happen.

Key Players

Alexia Putellas

The new FC Barcelona Femení Captain, Alexia Putellas will be the main driving force for the team this season. Last season, the Spanish International was captaining the side for most of the matches due to the absence of Vicky Losado, who has officially left the club for Manchester City. Putellas is a creative interior in the 4-3-3 system and has established herself among the very best in the world, winning the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year. A La Masia graduate, Alexia Putellas became the first professional women's footballer to score at the Camp Nou. Last season, Putellas provided 12 assists and was a goal scoring threat as well, as she scored 18 goals and was the second top scorer for Barcelona in the Primera Division. Although, it has to be mentioned that the Femení were free flowing and scoring for fun in the Primera Division. At 27, Alexia Putellas in the prime of her career will be pivotal for the Barcelona Femení going forward.

Jennifer Hermoso

The UEFA Forward of the Season, Jennifer Hermoso was the main threat up front for Barcelona. She was the top scorer in the Primera Division with 31 goals. She was facing quite a lot of competition from Oshoala, who is considered as the best African Women’s player of the current age. Oshoala scored 18 goals and could easily be the starter at many clubs around Europe, such is the depth of this Barcelona side. The main reason why Hermoso is playing most games is her ability to play as a False 9. She drifts into midfield to form numerical advantage and helps unleash the wingers in Lieke Martens and Caroline Graham Hansen. Her ability to drop in and help in build up is of immense importance to the Femení side. She also is brilliant at finding spaces and getting into the right positions to put the ball in the back of the net. Barcelona Femení have a proven goal scorer and an intelligent player in Jennifer Hermoso to lead their frontline for another season.

Aitana Bonmatí

The 3rd spot was a tricky one, with Lieke Martens who was nominated for the UEFA Best Women’s Player of the Year and Sandra Panos who won the UEFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper of the Season being the other options. But for me it had to be the 23-year-old Aitana Bonmatí. The La Masia graduate has certainly ruffled some feathers this season. She was arguably the best player in the Champions League Final. She also picked up the Barcelona Players Award as selected by the FC Barcelona Players group. She personifies the Barcelona style of play of positional awareness and finding spaces. With a low centre of gravity, she can glide past opposition players with ease and has a very good recovery pace as well to track back when she loses the ball. Aitana has grown along with the club as the club was on the brink was being recognized as a professional football club when she was going to make her debut. Despite Barcelona bringing in big stars and Aitana not getting minutes, she was mentally resilient and was determined to succeed at Barcelona and now she has done just that. The 23-year-old La Masia graduate will only grow in the coming years.

 

There you have it, shining some light on the Barcelona Femení and Barça B. Comment down below who you are excited to see this season, share the content and why not check out the blog post on the Messi Era, if you haven’t already. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you back soon and remember it’s more than a blog.