Barça-Villarreal: The final touch is La Masia

Numb from three days of celebrations , Hansi Flick's players stepped onto the pitch at the training grounds an hour later than usual yesterday to prepare for the penultimate match of the season against Villarreal and their last at the temporary home on Montjuïc. They did so with an emotional hangover from everything they experienced on Friday's street. "I think Pau Cubarsí was the MVP. He was a great encourager," explained Flick, who confessed that his phone, full of photos and videos to remember his first street, was more than prepared to handle such a storage load. "I made a video call with my family. Some of them are in Germany. And this morning I watched some videos with my three-year-old grandson. It was impressive. If we do this every year, it won't be bad," said the German coach, who has found in Barcelona a "community of people you can talk to like in my hometown of Heidelberg."

But there are things that don't change in Flick's mentality, whether or not they win the League, Cup, or Super Cup. "Some of them went out again yesterday after the party," he revealed. And, as if he were the father of them all, he uttered the classic phrase every teenager has heard from their parents: "If they can go out partying, they can play. There are no excuses."

Because competing until the very end and enjoying it is the motto of this Barça , a generation of footballers who have connected with the public, in part, because of their Barcelona sentiment. Seeing Marc Casadó celebrate the League title at Canaletes like any other fan, Fermín conducting the orchestra on the bus, Balde arriving at the training ground celebrating the victory against Espanyol and the League title with his chest bare in a convertible, or Dani Olmo and Eric Garcia – two players who left thinking of returning – cycling along Diagonal, is something that began to take shape at La Masia.

That magical school that was born next to Camp Nou on October 20, 1979, under the presidency of Josep Lluís Núñez, and which over the years has left a legacy and images that will go down in history. Like Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi on the podium for the 2011 Ballon d'Or, or like Tito Vilanova, who 12 years ago, on November 25, 2012, fielded 11 youth players on Levante's pitch for the first and only time to date. The players included Valdés, Montoya—who came on to replace an injured Alves—Piqué, Puyol, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Cesc, Pedro, Messi, and Iniesta.

"We've talked about this and we haven't ruled it out," Flick, a fan of La Masia, a regular at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, and the leader of a current squad with 11 youth players in a 25-man squad, confessed yesterday. A group of players who want to show, whether they're starters or not, that there's no club more prepared and courageous in terms of training than Barça.

Flick's youth squad

They are Iñaki Peña (26) - who, if he defends the goal from the start or in the second half (because Flick also thinks about taking care of Ter Stegen), will possibly live his last game with the club.

This will not be the case for Héctor Fort (18), Eric Garcia (24), Cubarsí (18), Balde (21), Casadó (21), Gavi (20), Fermín (22), Lamine Yamal (17) and Olmo (27). Nor will it be the case for Ansu Fati (22), who is determined to stay at Barça, although the summer is very long.

Others who embody the La Masia style and who arrived as signings from the reserve team are in the pipeline, such as Gerard Martín, Pablo Torre, and Pau Víctor. Even Araújo, who did not train yesterday due to knee discomfort. In the offices, they agree that it would be the perfect way to put the finishing touch to a celebration attended by Rafael Louzán, president of the RFEF, to present the League Cup. There will be speeches, fireworks, and musical surprises to cap off a year in which Lamine Yamal and his gang helped Barcelona overcome, four years later, the departure of Leo Messi.