Stat attack: Youth leading the charge for Barcelona this season

One of the key reasons why this Barcelona side is extremely likeable is due to the presence of a number of youngsters.

What enamours the average fan even more is the fact that the young players are the protagonists of this team such as Pedri, Gavi, Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia, and Alejandro Balde to name a few. A new report by SPORT has revealed the extent of the youth in La Liga’s 2^nd placed outfit.

It has been mentioned, as per a study conducted by the CIES Football Observatory, that the average age of the Catalan giants’ squad is 25.5 years.

Further details suggest that Barça rank 11^th out of the youngest teams playing in the top five leagues in Europe, with Valencia (23.99), Stuttgart (24.22) and Southampton (24.40) comprising the top three.

However, Xavi’s side hand the highest percentage of minutes to players aged 21 or youngster, at an impressive 29.5%, with Almeria (28.2%), Montpellier (27.7%), Arsenal (26.7%) and Hellas Verona (26.7%) forming the top five.

Barcelona also have the second youngster squad in the Spanish top-flight.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the five-time Champions League winners give a mere 6.5% minutes to players aged between 26 and 29, only behind Girona in the league.

Players such as Memphis Depay, Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin are a part of this age group.

As for players aged 30 or above, they are given 28.2% of the total minutes, with experienced campaigners such as Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto springing to mind.

The club rank 13^th out of all teams in La Liga for minutes handed to players belonging to this age group, while sitting at the top for providing game time to players between 22-25 years of age.