Xavi: Playing with a complete homegrown team was extraordinary

Xavi: Barcelona's La Masia success is extraordinary

26 Nov 2012 07:45:00

The Spain international is proud of the club after the Blaugrana fielded a team made up entirely of players from their youth academy on Sunday

Xavi has voiced his delight with the fact that Barcelona played with 11 homegrown players in their 4-0 league win over Levante on Sunday.

The Catalans started the match with Dani Alves as the only player who did not come through the club's youth academy, but had a complete team of La Masia graduates after Martin Montoya took the Brazilian's place early in the first-half, until Jordi Alba made way for Adriano in the 75th minute.

"It’s extraordinary, especially for those of us who learned to play football at La Masia. We’re proving and showing the good work that’s being done [in the youth system]," Xavi told the club's official website.

"[Former coach Louis] van Gaal said that his dream was to field 11 homegrown players, and today that dream became a reality."

The influential midfielder then went on to stress that Barca are pleased with their comfortable lead over rivals Real Madrid, but added that they are not getting carried away.

"We’re pleased that we have an 11-point lead over Real Madrid, but we should only focus on how we perform on the pitch and try to create a bigger advantage over the team in second place."

Barcelona hold a three-point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid.