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Juvenil, the Champions of División de Honor Grupo 5, faced RSD Alcalá in their last league game of the season. Guti used this game to give minutes to fringe players and keep them fresh for the upcoming crucial battles. There were 9 changes in the starting lineup compared to the last game against Getafe in midweek.
Guti heavily rotates and gives minutes to some fringe players. pic.twitter.com/wZwyd6GLsj
— Ondra P (@OndraPaul) April 9, 2017
Even though Alcalá are a bottom 3 team in the league, nobody expected this makeshift Juvenil's XI to start as good as they had. Juvenil created 2 big chances in the first 3 minutes and in the sixth minute they broke the deadlock with this beautiful combination (goal scored by Soti).
Lovely combination from Juvenil. And what a calm finish from @ASotillos4 pic.twitter.com/iYSkAXTJN4
— Ondra P (@OndraPaul) April 9, 2017
Alcalá simply couldn't contain Juvenil's offensive players. They created chance after chance and only last ditch tackles and bad first touches from forwards prevented more goals in the first 15 minutes. Soti was particularly impressive as a right back. He excellently linked with Echu and provided quick overlapping runs.
It was a very impressive performance in first 30minutes from Juvenil. We have to consider that 9 changes were made in the lineup and it didn't show on the pitch at all. Passing was crisp and players were constantly aware of each other. Kudos to Guti for keeping all the kids in sync and teaching them his system that he wants them to play.
Juvenil kept searching for the second goal that would effectively kill off the match and they found it in 32nd minute. Javi received the ball, made a few quick steps towards Alcalá's penalty box and released his rocket. Their goalkeeper had no chance of saving that. This is Javi's secret weapon, but to be fair it might no longer be a secret.
Superb strike from Javi. pic.twitter.com/vjvffOLymP
— Ondra P (@OndraPaul) April 9, 2017
In the second half Guti made 4 quick substitutiosn. At half time he put Tati and Ousama in and took off Manu and Llario. And ten minutes later he took off Mink and Bravo and sent Fran and Alberto in.
The second half was mostly uneventful. Alcalá didn't threaten Belman and Juvenil kept the game firmly in their hands. Juvenil created more chances, but their finishing was off. In the end the game played out very comfortably for Juvenil and it was a nice ending to a very successful campaign.
Juvenil finished the season with 71 points from 30 games (22 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses).
Goals: 1x Soti, 1x Javi
Assists: 1x Llario, 1x Álex
MOTM: Soti
What's next for Juvenil A?
Juvenil will take part in three more competitions - UEFA Youth League, Copa de Campeones de División de Honor Juvenil and Copa del Rey Juvenil.
UEFA Youth league
Next game will be against Benfica on 21.4. (Friday) at 5pm CET / 11am ET. The venue for this game will be Colovray Stadium in Nyon, where all the semifinals and final will take place. The final is schedule 3 days later - on Sunday 24.4.
Copa de Campeones de División de Honor Juvenil
8 teams will participate - Champions of each Group (7 champions in total) and the 2nd team with most points - in a knock-out tournament (one-legged ties) to determine the official Spanish Juvenil Champion (side note: Real Madrid hold the most titles with 6 and Barca is second with 3). This tournament will take place in Galicia from 30.4. till 6.5.
Teams qualified: Real Madrid, Celta, Osasuna, Barcelona, Málaga (current Champions), Las Palmas, Villarreal, Sevilla.
Copa del Rey Juvenil
16 best teams from Spain (Champions, 2nd placed teams and 2 best 3rd placed teams) will take part in this tournament that traditional is held in mid May till beginning of June. There are 4 knock out rounds (two-legged ties) all together and Real Madrid will want to claim the title after 3 years of loosing in the final.