Never before have Barcelona fielded a team in a league game with fewer Spaniards
Remember when Barcelona were the perfect football team?Just a few years ago, the boys from Barca weren't just playing the sexiest, most successful football we had ever seen - they were doing it with a team full of homegrown, Spanish stars.
Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique, David Villa… one of the greatest club sides of all time was also the backbone of one of the greatest national sides of all time - the Spain team that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.
In short, Barcelona WERE Spain.
How times change. As anyone who witness their 4-0 hammering by Paris Saint-Germain knows, Barca are no longer the awesome force they once were. And now, we can confirm they are not nearly as Spanish, either.
In naming his starting XI for their 2-1 win against Leganes (itself a bit of a slog), Luis Enrique picked just one Spanish player.
Yep, ONE. Sergi Roberto was the only Spaniard in the team - the first time in Barcelona's ENTIRE history that they have had ten foreigners in their side for a league game.
We're not making this up.
Just look at the team that started the match at the Nou Camp:
Marc ter Stegen - Dutch
Sergi Roberto - SPANISH
Samuel Umtiti - French
Jeremy Mathieu - French
Lucas Digne - French
Ivan Rakitic - Croatian
Andre Gomes - Portuguese
Rafinha - Brazilian
Lionel Messi - Argentinian
Luis Suarez - Uruguayan
Neymar - Brazilian
Granted, Messi and Rafinha are both academy graduates, and there were five more academy graduates on the bench.
But still, you can't help but wonder… is there some sort of correlation between the team's Spanish contingent disappearing and their current struggles?
Hmm…
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