La Masia is the legendary football academy of FC Barcelona, which is well reputed for churning out or developing some of the biggest names in football right now.
The institution that developed the club’s golden generation in the very recent past enjoys a hallowed status for the Blaugrana faithful, who would not be particularly happy if it is mispronounced as a curry. That is exactly what Joe Cole did when he said “La Masala” instead of La Masia, on live television during the coverage of PSG v Barcelona last night.
Cole had quite the embarrassing moment while speaking on BT Sport’s coverage of the first leg of this season’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 fixture.
The ex-England international, who is most known for his stint at Chelsea, was discussing how Barcelona will have to integrate their next generation of their academy graduates in order to reform their identity.
Cole had a howler on live television as he looked at a loss of words while trying to name the academy and eventually failed as he chose “The Masala” instead of La Masia.
Not only did he pronounce the academy’s name horribly wrong, but he also referred to Sergino Dest as one of the new generations of the academy graduates – a very incorrect statement considering Barcelona signed the American international from Ajax only last summer.
Joe Cole casually referring to La Masia as "Masala" has finished me. Man thinks Barca have got a chicken tikka playing in midfield 😂😂 #BarcaPsg pic.twitter.com/JEB8rxK1sk
— FootyLeaks (@FootyLeaks3) February 16, 2021
Paris Saint-Germain were aided by a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick as they came back from behind to run Barcelona ragged in the second half, on their own patch.
Barcelona went ahead in the game with the help of Lionel Messi from the spot, but their lead did not last long as Mbappe drew the Parisian side level before half time. Mbappe pounced on a loose ball to send PSG into the lead in the second half before Moise Kean made it three from a free-kick situation.
Mbappe scored his third goal on the night to make it four for PSG, with an emphatic curling strike past a hapless Marc-Andre ter Stegen – as the French champions will have a 4-1 lead on aggregate when the sides meet again at the Parc des Princes in a month’s time.
Check out the reactions to Joe Cole’s howler below –
AH YES LA MASALA, produced tremendous quality over the years including Xavi Vindaloo, Andres Biryani and of course the incredible Lionel Lamb Korma. Oh, and it all comes down to their genius academy director Alberto Garlic Naan Bread Jimenez.
— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) February 17, 2021
THIS IS PRICELESS FROM JOE COLE 😂 https://t.co/ZYOWVr25vq
Joe Cole referring to La Masia as "Masala" reminded me of the time when Ashley Cole couldn’t even read Espanyol
— Hałe (@CFCHale) February 17, 2021
Wait…did Joe Cole really refer to "La Masia" football academy as "The Masala". I'm guessing Barcelona play tikka takka football.
— Anshul (@Anshul__K) February 17, 2021
Joe cole literally called La masia "masala" with full conviction. I refuse to believe he does not know the Barca academy name but that's just jokes🤣🤣
— Aditya Rane (@adiji) February 17, 2021
