La Masia graduates and their debut Clásicos
Eric Garcia, Iñaki Peña, Gavi, Nico and Balde are all in line to appear in El Clásico for the first time on Sunday. We thought we’d take a look back at previous La Masia graduates, and see what happened when they faced Real Madrid for the first time ever at senior level.
CARLES PUYOL
Date: 12/10/1999
Score: 2-2
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: The centre back played 52 minutes on his Clásico debut even though he didn’t start the game. He came on in the 38th minute, as substitute for Sergi Barjuan.
XAVI HERNÁNDEZ
Date: 26/02/2000
Score: 3-0
Venue: Santiago Bernabéu
Performance: Xavi played for the first time on away territory. He came on at half-time in a clear 3-0 win for Real Madrid.
VICTOR VALDÉS
Date: 6/12/2003
Score: 1-2
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: Played his first Clásico under Frank Rijkaard, playing the full 90 90 minutes.
ANDRÉS INIESTA
Date: 20/11/2004
Score: 3-0
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: Iniesta came onto the Camp Nou pitch for the last 18 minutes of a 3-0 win.
LEO MESSI
Date: 19/11/2005
Score: 0-3
Venue: Santiago Bernabéu
Performance: The Argentine superstar didn’t take long to make his mark on the Clásico, starting the game and giving an assist in a 3-0 win at the Bernabéu.
BOJAN KRKIC
Date: 23/12/2007
Score: 0-1
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: Bojan Krkic played 8 minutes in his first Clásico, which was a 1-0 defeat at the Camp Nou.
SERGIO BUSQUETS
Date: 13/12/2008
Score: 2-0
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: The midfielder came on after 64 minutes of a 2-0 win with Pep Guardiola as coach.
GERARD PIQUÉ
Date: 2/05/2009
Score: 2-6
Venue: Santiago Bernabéu
Performance: The defender’s first Clásico was the legendary 5-2 win at the Bernabéu, and he even got to score one of the goals that historic day.
PEDRO RODRIGUEZ
Date: 10/4/2010
Score: 0-2
Venue: Santiago Bernabéu
Performance: Pedro played his debut Clásico under Pep Guardiola, playing 90 minutes and contributing one of the goals in a 2-0 away victory.
JEFFREN SÚAREZ
Date: 29/11/2010
Score: 5-0
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: Jeffren came on towards the end of the game, with the score at 4-0, and netted goal number five off a Bojan assist.
SERGI ROBERTO
Date: 27/4/2011
Score: 0-2
Venue: Santiago Bernabéu
Performance: Sergi Roberto’s first Clásico experience came in the Champions League. Barça won 2-0 but he came on right at the end and barely intervened.
JORDI ALBA
Date: 23/8/2012
Score: 3-2
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: His first game with Madrid was in the 2012/13 Spanish Super Cup. Barça won 3-2, but this was another testimonial appearance in the final moments.
ANSU FATI
Date: 18/12/2019
Score: 0-0
Venue: Camp Nou
Performance: This was much more recent, in 2019/20. Ansu played the last few minutes of a goalless draw at Camp Nou.
RONALD ARAUJO
Date: 10/04/2021
Score: 2-1
Venue: Alfredo Di Stefano
Performance: The Uruguayan started the game and was on for 72 minutes of a a narrow 2-1 win for the all-whites.
ÓSCAR MINGUEZA
Date: 10/04/2021
Score: 2-1
Venue: Alfredo Di Stefano
Performance: Mingueza made his Clásico debut in the same game as Araujo, and scored Barça’s only goal of the match.