Barcelona midfielder Pedri has praised coach Hansi Flick for giving young players the confidence needed to thrive.

Barça has the youngest team in LaLiga, with an average age of 23.6 years.

Barça are three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the standings heading into Saturday’s Clásico at the Bernabéu.

“It’s very important,” Pedri told ESPN of Flick’s commitment to nurturing homegrown talent.

“The confidence that the coach gives to all young players who are coming up, they give back with good play. This gives them confidence and gives them more freedom to dare to try things out.”

Flick started six youth academy players in Wednesday’s 4-1 home win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barça’s second win in the competition.

“We see a lot of players getting away La Masia (Barça’s youth academy) and it is the soul of this club,” Pedri said.

Dani Olmo, who returned to Barça from Leipzig this summer, is happy to see academy players getting opportunities.

A Barça youth product, Olmo joined Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 16.

“It’s great,” Olmo told ESPN. “Barcelona is the best academy in the world. La Masia have shown this over the years, so we celebrate it now, with many players in the first team who grew up in La Masia. It just gives motivation for all the players who come to keep working because they can get a chance.”

Experienced Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, who retired earlier this month to join Barça following Marc-André ter Stegen’s injury, admits having so many youngsters in the team takes some getting used to.

“I have to tell you it’s strange,” he told ESPN. “Some of these players probably haven’t seen me play for Arsenal and I have a feeling it wasn’t that long ago!

“But it’s an important point why I decided to come, because I think I can give something to this team.

“So you try as an experienced player to talk to those young kids and help them understand what are the right times to press, and the right times to maybe drop a little bit.”

When asked which young Barça talent has impressed him the most, Szczęsny said: “(Pau) Cubarsí (17 years old) is an exciting player because when I saw him on TV I expected a modern defender who is very good on the ball, but more on the soft side when it comes to defending and when you see him live he is actually quite annoying to play against and is very strong in defensive duels.

“So he’s the most impressive, but you can go through all the products of La Masia and it’s all very exciting for the future of the club.”

Pedri, 21, also praised Flick for his tactics.

“Above all, he has very clear ideas,” said the Spain international. “I think an advanced defensive line really characterizes us in all games. He has given us the confidence that we can do it and that we have to believe in ourselves.”