Jiminy Cricket by Lamine Yamal and his fellow adventurers

Vilassar de Mar"Xavi, I arrived late because people stopped me on the metro, forgive me," Ansu Fati told Xavi Martín, looking bewildered by what had just happened to him. He was returning to La Masia from his parents' house – that day he was due to make his Barça first-team debut, at just 16 years old. "I went to my office, grabbed the front pages of the newspapers and told him: 'They stopped you for that. And from now on, you have to change your habits because you're a well-known person,'" Xavi Martín, director of La Masía between 2019 and 2021, recalls to ARA. He was also a member of the Barça squad with whom Martín coincided during his time as director of La Masia. The list includes Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí, Balde, Casadó, Marc Bernal, Fermín and Gavi. He still keeps in touch with many of them. The latter two were at La Masia because their families lived outside of Catalonia, but the club also believes the Blaugrana home is the best place for players experiencing difficult situations. This was the case with Lamine Yamal. "The decision was based on his situation from a family perspective. There could be more dysfunctional families or those who lived in difficult areas. There were players who needed academic, nutritional, sleep, and rest monitoring," Martín explained during the interview at his home in Vilassar de Mar.

Martín then spoke with Iván de la Peña, Lamine Yamal's agent at the time. "He told me: 'Look, Xavi, this boy could benefit from the La Masia environment, to help him and support him in these habits beyond the pitch.'" Martín agreed and discussed it with the boy's parents. "I told them we'd thought about having him live at La Masia. They were delighted. His parents were separated at the time, and Lamine lived between Mataró and Vallès."

Then it was time to tell the boy, deeply rooted in the Rocafonda neighborhood of Mataró. "He reminded me of Messi because he looked at the floor. I said, 'Would you like to come here with us?' He raised his head and answered with a smile, 'Yes.' I put him in the room with four children his age, and he adapted very quickly. One was from Granada and another from Granada, who sat after him, above him, and there was also a boy, and there was also a boy, and there was also a boy. We would drop him off at his dad's or mom's house, and he would come back on Sunday night. There was never any problem," says Martín.

Others, however, were a little more mischievous. "He was very annoying to Gavi because he didn't want to wear his mask during the pandemic, he didn't fasten his football boots, he didn't put on his wristbands, and some nights he didn't want to go down to dinner because he wanted to stay in his room." Martín also had to deal with the moment when Casadó wanted to drop out of school. "Both his family and I told him he should continue his high school education. He's so passionate about football that he wanted to dedicate himself solely to training and going to the physiotherapist. I told him that was non-negotiable; my parents helped me, and he continued studying."

From Port Aventura to Giuseppe Meazza

Some did not play due to injury (Balde, Bernal and Casadó) and others because they do not have Flick's confidence (Ansu Fati), but the members of this generation of La Masia They were just two minutes away from reaching the Champions League final on Tuesday, with Barça. at the Giuseppe Meazza. And this Sunday they can wrap up the league title against Real Madrid. Theirs is the story of a group of friends who almost reached Olympus. And that will end up reaching them in the future. "Their performance on the pitch and how they get along with each other has to do with the fact that La Masia is like a family. Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Fermín, Balde, and Ansu have lived together. Some hadn't trained together because they're in different categories, but they've all lived together at La Masia, gone to Port Aventura together, and made chocolates. However, they've been roommates."

For Martín, Lamine Yamal is an example of how to handle pressure in elite football. "He has emotions like everyone else, but he handles them very well. He came out onto the Inter pitch, they whistled at him, and he smiled. He finished the game and took it [the elimination] calmly. Others cried. The pressure doesn't get to him; he's very mature." He also believes Cubarsí and company are. The reason, Martín assures, is no coincidence: "They've been trained since they were little, not just in how to play. This is invisible training. Work has been done since they were little to prepare them."

Respect for Catalan

Xavi Martín, before becoming director of La Masia, was head of communications at Barça (2011-2014). At that time, he had already decided that Catalan was essential for communication at the club, whether it was presidents, directors, coaches, or players who had the floor. "Our language is Catalan, and therefore, they must express themselves in Catalan. Pep Guardiola went to Bayern Munich and spoke in German at his first press conference. Fermín, who came from Linares, speaks it very well. Lamine Yamal speaks it too." He emphasizes Lamine Yamal's Catalan because Martín explains that he didn't speak to him when he arrived at La Masia despite being born in Catalonia. "Now, however, the press conferences are held in Catalan. Barça is a Catalan club, the language is Catalan, and they must make an effort. We will understand if they make mistakes, if they don't pronounce correctly, if they have spelling errors, it doesn't matter. It must be done out of respect and politeness," he believes.