Both Barcelona B and Juvenil A teams won their matches this week, as Juvenil B continue to be the stars of La Masia. Very good performances for the 3 older section teams in La Masia, so it’s time to take a look at what happened.
Barcelona B vs Espanyol B
Line-up:
After a tough defeat last week Barcelona B needed to earn some points to escape the relegation zone, which could see them drop to 5th division. The subsidiary team faced Espanyol in the B team derby, coming out of the match victorious 2-1 to Barcelona B. Garcia Pimienta lined-up a full La Masia team with all the players coming through the academy rankings while leaving the signings on the bench. Barcelona B captain Alex Collado got his first start after overcoming the injury, which saw him miss around 6 months of football. Barça B shortly managed to get ahead thanks to an outstanding combination play. Jandro Orellana delivered a well-placed pass to Nils, who crossed the ball into the box reaching Peque. Scoring his first goal of the season with a header to put Barcelona B ahead in the 9th minute of the game.
Just after Barça B took the lead, Espanyol B led by José Aurelio Gay, was also about to equalize the match after an excellent counter-attack led by Svensson, whose shot was eventually deflected for a corner by Collado. After taking the control of the game Barça managed to dominate the game. With great two chances, which could have given Barcelona B a considerable advantage. One of which was a cross by Collado to reach Nils, who unfortunately did not manage to finish off the chance. The second one being with Collado footwork, which the Barça players claimed the hands of a Blue and White defender inside the area, but the referee did not whistle for a penalty. Just before the half time, Espanyol B managed to equalize with a header from a corner-kick.
Securing the win
That looks to be the weakest defensive aspect of this team, as most of the goals conceded were from headers. After the break, it was Espanyol who started strongly. Little by little, Espanyol B started to dominate the midfield until Pimienta gave entry to Nico for Ilaix Moriba and Rey Manaj for Nils in 68th minute of the game. Later Pimienta gave Hiroki Abe his come back to professional football after being out for 40 days, however, stayed on the pitch for 3 minutes before being injured again. In the 81st minute, Rey Manaj, with a great run, managed to get away from two markers and scored perfectly with the right foot, adjusting the ball to Espanyol goalkeeper left post to score the winning goal, ending the game 2-1. Barcelona B won crucial 3 points, which puts them 7th in the table above the relegation zone.
Looking forward
Barça B now will face Cornella next, to whom they lost 1-0 in the pre-season. Despite not scoring assisting Alex Collado, showed his brilliancy and why he is so essential for this team, despite being too good for 3rd division of football. From now on we will see a much better Barcelona B with Collado starting.
My Barcelona B player of the match: Alex Collado
Juvenil A – Cornella:
Line-up:
The Match:
Juvenil A earned themselves crucial 3 points against Cornella. That sees the team second in the league with 13 points. They are six adrift of leaders Espanyol, who drew with Damm this weekend. A match full of goals sees La Masia youngsters take the win 4-3 with 2 goals from Angel, Jaume Jardi and an outstanding free-kick goal from Txus Alba. Juvenil A line-up with 3 at the back with midfielder Alex Rico dropping deep to help out with defensive contribution and start the build-up play from the back.
Txus and Gavi stayed in the midfield with Jaume Jardi playing in a number “10” role ahead of midfield and behind Luzzi. While Angel and Ilias were dominating the wings. An attack of 16-year olds were incredible this game with Ilias assisting a very crucial goal for Angel. Juvenil A started poorly conceding in the first minute of the game, due to a horrible touch from Gallego.
Cornella managed to take away the ball and score an easy goal to put them ahead. It didn’t take long until Juvenil A took back control of the game as in the 11th minute of the game a great run from Angel, saw an opportunity to cross, which eventually was called for a penalty, due to a handball of Cornella defender. Jaume Jardi stepped up to take the penalty and a few seconds later he put the ball inside the net making it 1-1. Both teams were playing impressive football, trying to look for opportunities to score goals. Juvenil A took the lead in the 28th minute with an accurate free-kick goal from Txus Alba.
The ending
However, 2 minutes later Cornella equalized with Juvenil A goalkeeper not able to get the ball over the goal and eventually went into the net after a good header by Juvenil A player who is on loan at Cornella Leo Dos Reis. In the second half, Barça soon went back in front, when Alarcón was brought down in the area and converted from the spot to claim his first goal of the season. And in the 86th minute of the game, an exquisite Ilias Akhomach through ball to the Angel, which saw him bag a brace in an impressive way, chipping the goalkeeper and extended the lead to two goals.
Although Cornellà managed to pull one back with the last action of the game, Juvenil A managed to secure 3 points. Juvenil A now will face Villacarlos at the Ciutat Esportiva. They are the last team in the table with only 2 points out of 6 games.
My Juvenil A player of the match: Ángel Alarcón
Juvenil B – Vilaseca:
Line-up:
The Match:
Juvenil B trashed Vilaseca on Sunday winning the game 6-0. Aleix Garrido put Juvenil B ahead in the 7th minute of the game. He did that with a great run from Gerard into the box. Eventually leaving the ball to Fermin who laid it off to Aleix Garrido. The latter with a great finish into the bottom right corner. In the 40th minute of the game a great combination play between Aleix Garrido, Alastuey and Victor Barbera almost saw Barcelona score the second of the game. However, an outstanding save from goalkeeper kept the other team still in the game.
Juvenil B dominated throughout the game but finished the first-half only with a single goal. Thus keeping the opponents without a great chance of scoring. In the second half, Juvenil B received a penalty kick only 12 minutes after the half started, with Alastuey converting from the spot and giving the youngster 2 goal lead.
5 minutes later Juvenil B received a free-kick just outside the box, however, the effort was blocked by the wall. Fortunately, enough the rebound fell straight to Aleix Garrido who scored his 4th goal this season. Barcelona didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Therefore, in the 76th minute, Vilesca goalkeeper slipped after receiving a pass just outside the box. Making it an easy goal for Josep Cerda.
Securing the win
Just substituted right-winger Juanda Fuentes scored a brace within 4 minutes. One of the goals from a penalty-kick. Another was created from a counter-attack with an outstanding through ball from Antionio Caravaca. Juanda calmly rolled the ball before putting it past the goalkeeper. He scored the 6th goal of the game and securing 3 points.
Juvenil B is in excellent form winning all of their 6 games while scoring 18 goals and conceding 3. One of the best teams in La Masia will face La Floresta next. They still haven’t won a single game this season.
My Juvenil B player of the match: Aleix Garrido
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