Jaume Santiveri took up his new role as head of FCBarcelona's youth football on Tuesday morning, as the club celebrated his first European visit as director. The match that marked its debut was the group stage of the UEFAYouthLeague, where JuvenilA faced Galatasaray and achieved a 0‑1 victory.
Santiveri's debut coincided with the competition day at the AliSamiYen stadium, in which the youth team demonstrated its quality by keeping the visitors goalless and scoring the only goal of the match. The victory not only ensured a Barça victory, but also consolidated JuvenilA's position in the group and reinforced confidence in the new management of the youth department.
After the completion of the youth match, Santiveri accompanied the first team to the same stadium for the night duel against Galatasaray itself. On that occasion, Barcelona won with a resounding 1‑4, with HansiFlick's players scoring the decisive goal. Santiveri's presence at both matches underlines his commitment to closely supervise both the training and transition of young players to the first team.
Santiveri's team was also attended by several senior club officials. Among them were BojanKrkic, Football coordinator; AndrésManzano, coordinator of Training Football; SergiMilà, director of Methodology and coordinator of Fútbol11; and GerardSarrà, Methodology coordinator. The presence of these executives reflects the importance that Barcelona gives to cohesion between the different levels of its football structure.
With the victory of JuvenilA and the resounding defeat of Galatasaray, Barcelona is positioned favorably in the group stage of the UEFAYouthLeague. New manager Santiveri, together with his support team, is committed to continuing to develop youth talent and integrate the most promising players into the first team squad. The next step will be to observe how the youngsters perform in the upcoming matches of the competition and evaluate their progress within the club's playing philosophy.