Exactly half of the bosses that have reached the Champions League quarter-finals (four out of eight) had spent significant time or been shaped at Barcelona.Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and the current Barca coach Xavi Hernandez were brought up by the famous club’s youth academy. They spent the most fruitful years of their playing careers at Camp Nou before becoming strategists. Damn right. https://t.co/Pgvlw1V0GG pic.twitter.com/UVX8nVB417— Matthew Clark (@MattClark_08) March 12, 2024 The man who had turned Arsenal into a winning squad, Mikel Arteta, was also raised in the La Masia but was unlucky that the contenders for his position in midfield were none other than mentioned Xavi, then Iniesta and many other superb players. Therefore, he made only 42 appearances for Barcelona B and not a single one for the first team, as he decided to pursue his happiness outside Spain. Unlike him, current Paris Saint-Germain tactician Luis Enrique was never a Barca kid but eventually joined the Blaugrana and spent eight beautiful years there before retiring in 2004.##NAJAVA_MECA_7950817##Moreover, he returned to the club in 2014 and, during a three-year tenure, won two La Ligas, three domestic cups and one Champions League trophy.The UCL draw on Friday will decide the match-ups, and we might have at least one clash between the two Barcelonistas. It tells the story of its own about the importance, the trace and the value of this club, which is going through a sort of crisis both on and off the pitch. You can’t spell Atletico without Cholo. And no, we’re not wrong thereHowever, its legacy remains out of this world, and the likes of Guardiola, Arteta, Xavi and Luis Enrique only prove how special that outfit is. Or as they say, ‘Mes que un club’, meaning ‘More than a club’.
