Young midfielder Aleix Garrido makes Barcelona debut in Elche win

Garrido came off the bench for the final 10 minutes of the 4-0 victory

Barcelona's 4-0 win at Elche saw another debut for a youngster from La Masia in the first team, that of Aleix Garrido. The midfielder came on for Ansu Fati in the final stretch of the game at the Martínez Valero.

Garrido became the 11th player from Barça's academy to make his debut for Xavi Hernández in the first team since the Terrassa-born coach took over. Ilias Akhomach, Ferran Jutglà, Álvaro Sanz, Estanis Pedrola, Mika Mármol, Iñaki Peña, Marc Casadó, Chadi Riad and Ángel Alarcón have preceded him, as well as the special case of Héctor Bellerín, trained in La Masia, emigrated to the Premier League and made his debut in the first team much later, in the 2022/23 campaign

As Xavi Hernández said in the run-up to the Elche clash, which Barça won comfortably, "Aleix would have been called up before, but he had an injury. I like him a lot. He has talent and that final pass which, when we're missing Pedri, is what we miss the most."

Garrido (19, Ripoll) arrived at the club in 2012 and has the reputation of being the paradigm of what is expected of a Barça midfielder. The Blaugrana coaches have been polishing him from Benjamín C to Barça Atlètic and this Saturday he was rewarded with his first-team debut.

An injury prevented him from having continuity in recent times: he was injured in mid-December and did not return until three months later. Despite having already made his debut with the reserve team, it is in the Juvenil A (U19s) where he has had more prominence.