Former Barcelona defender highlights importance of La Masia – ‘Without it the club would have disappeared’ | OneFootball

Former Barcelona defender Laurent Blanc has stressed the importance of La Masia, stating that without the academy, the club might have ‘disappeared’.

Blanc spent one season as a player at Barça, having arrived in 1996 from AJ Auxerre. A successful manager, the 59-year-old has previously been linked with the Blaugrana hotseat on multiple occasions, but nothing came of it.

Now thriving at Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, where he was named the league’s best coach last season, Blanc spoke exclusively to SPORT about his admiration for Barcelona’s youth revolution and his time at the club, among other things.

Enjoying PSG and Barcelona

Blanc, who also managed PSG in the past, highlighted the European champions and Barcelona as two teams he loved to watch last season.

“Watching PSG this year has been very interesting. And Barça – what can I say? Watching that Champions League semi-final between Barça and Inter, two teams with completely different styles, was a real treat,” he said.

Continuing, he added: “One side wants to play and score; the other defends… and still scores four goals in Barcelona. That is a pleasure.

“You get to the end of the match and think, ‘Damn, I had a great time – goals, good plays, saves, and a right winger (Lamine) doing extraordinary things with his left foot.’”

Blanc recalled his own time at Barcelona, where he played alongside club legends Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola.

“I played with them and know them a little. Both were deeply shaped by the identity, the DNA of Barça. Their commitment is to the game – play, play, and more play,” he remarked.

“That is why all of us who have passed through this club are marked by its footballing philosophy.”

The importance of La Masia

Turning back to Barcelona, Blanc offered a sincere reflection on the club’s struggles and revival after a lull.

“Barça has gone through tough times, financially and administratively. But what pulled them out? The young players. For me, Barça has always been a great club with a great training centre – La Masia. That is the heart of the club.”

The former Manchester United defender did not hold back on how crucial the academy has been, saying:

“If there was no La Masia, Barça might not have survived. Without it, maybe the club would have disappeared or collapsed. It is the youngsters who saved Barça – Lamine, Pedri, Gavi… So many have emerged.”

Laurent Blanc during his time at Barcelona. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Bongarts/Getty Images)

“And now the club is Spanish champion, reached the Champions League semi-finals, and nearly made the final. With this youth, I believe Barça will once again be a great club.”

Reflection on his time at Barcelona

Blanc also looked back on his own short stint as a Barça player in the mid-90s, a period that began with great promise but took a sharp turn.

“My signing was quite paradoxical. I was a free agent and about to go to an English club. Suddenly, Johan Cruyff called my agent and told me not to move,” he began.

“I wanted to meet him, and he wanted to convince me to join Barça. So I said, ‘I’m going to Barcelona and I’ll sign.’ I still have the contract.”

However, a twist came almost immediately as Cruyff was then sacked as manager.

“When I arrived, Johan told me: ‘Laurent, you are going to sign for two years and we are going to play like this. Tonight, I will take you to a restaurant, and we will talk tactics.’ An hour later, he was fired,” he noted.

“I was at the Hotel Juan Carlos I. TV3 was talking non-stop about Cruyff’s dismissal. I thought it was a joke. I could not believe it. Later, Johan called and told me: ‘I will not be the coach. I am fine, but I have just been sacked.’”

Talking about his season under Sir Bobby Robson, he added: “So when I joined the club, there was an English coach in charge – not at all like Cruyff. We had a good season, I connected with the playing style, performed well….”

However, Barcelona changed managers again in 1997 and that shift transformed the dressing room – and led to his exit.

“But then Robson, a great man in football, left. Van Gaal came in, bringing with him a wave of Dutch players,” Blanc recalled.

“Many players left – those who were more closely linked with the Barça identity than I was: Stoichkov, Guardiola, Popescu, Abelardo… And I was part of that wave. I left, very reluctantly. Ronaldo left too.”

Looking back, Blanc admitted that he arrived too late in his career to Barcelona.

“Yes, I arrived a bit late. But we had great players—and in my view, the best player in the world: Ronaldo. He only played one season in Barcelona. He could have stayed five or six,” he noted.

As mentioned earlier, Blanc’s name has come up more than once in relation to the Barça managerial role, and the Frenchman confirmed the interest was real.

“I came close. There was genuine interest several times. I was willing—it is a city, a club, and a football culture that I love. But it never happened. Maybe one day it will. You never know. But I am starting to get old now,” he concluded.